This dissertation investigates the resources that students use to learn new digital technologies to complete course assignments. This work is particularly important in a time when teachers are assigning more multimodal projects. If students are using and learning digital technologies to complete our assignments, we might argue that we should teach our students how to use the specific technologies they would use for the assignment. Yet, teaching students specific technologies is complicated... Show moreThis dissertation investigates the resources that students use to learn new digital technologies to complete course assignments. This work is particularly important in a time when teachers are assigning more multimodal projects. If students are using and learning digital technologies to complete our assignments, we might argue that we should teach our students how to use the specific technologies they would use for the assignment. Yet, teaching students specific technologies is complicated for several reasons, including limited time and resources, numerous and quickly obsolete software, different levels of expertise for students and teachers, and more. Because of these complications, students may benefit from spending less time with instruction in specific technologies and more time considering practices for learning new digital technologies. This dissertation works to discover practices that teachers can use in the classroom to help their students learn how to learn new digital technologies in order to compose multimodal texts. To do this, I investigate how students are already learning technologies outside of the classroom and use this investigation to identify possible pedagogical directions. To gain a broader understanding of the resources students are using, I surveyed five sections of an upper-level composition course in which students completed at least one digital assignment. Then, to gain a more nuanced and richer description of resource use, I interviewed three of these students. To analyze the data, I used a framework adapted from Jeanette R. Hill and Michael J. Hannafin's components for Resource-Based Learning (RBL). RBL is a pedagogical approach that aims to teach students how to learn and to produce students who are self-directed problem-solvers, able to work both collaboratively and individually. Though RBL is a pedagogical approach, I used its values and parameters as a lens for understanding students' use of resources. RBL (as the name suggests) puts emphasis on the resources students use to facilitate their learning. Given the wide variety of resources and the ways in which they can be used in the classroom, few scholars articulate precisely what RBL may look like more generally. Hill and Hannafin (2010), however, list four components among which RBL can vary: resources, tools, contexts, and scaffolds. In this study, resource is an umbrella term for the tools, contexts, and humans students may use to support their learning. Tools are the non-human objects that students use to learn new technologies. Humans are the people from whom students seek help. Contexts are the rhetorical situations (specifically the audiences and purposes for composing) surrounding the technological learning, the students' past technological experiences, and the physical locations in which students work. An important element of this study is to identify not only what resources students use, but also how they use their resources; scaffolds are how the resources are used. The scaffolds in this study are as follows: conceptual scaffolds – resources help students decide the order in which to complete tasks, understand the affordances and constraints of the technology, and learn the genre conventions of a given text; metacognitive scaffolds – resources help students tap into their prior knowledge; procedural scaffolds – resources provide students with step-by-step instructions for completing tasks or with definitions of vocabulary; and strategic scaffolds – resources encourage students to experiment in order to learn and solve problems they encounter while learning the technology. In addition to addressing what and how students use resources to learn to perform tasks with the technology, I also examined how students used resources to learn the specialized vocabulary of the technology and the technology's affordances and constraints. The study resulted in eight findings about the ways in which students are using resources. These findings were then used to identify three areas for possible strategies teachers might consider to help students use resources to learn new technologies: 1. Helping students effectively choose technologies, which includes assisting them in (a) using resources to identify technology options and learn about the affordances and constraints of the options and (b) using the affordances and constraints, their composing situations, and the available resources to choose the technology that best meets their needs. 2. Helping students effectively use templates, which includes aiding them in (a) using templates to learn about the genres in which they are composing, (b) selecting effective templates, and (c) altering the templates based on their rhetorical situations and preferences. 3. Helping students learn the technology's specialized vocabulary, which includes assisting them in (a) identifying familiar visual and linguistic vocabulary, (b) making educated guesses about unfamiliar vocabulary, and (c) using resources to learn unfamiliar vocabulary. Show less

Date Issued

2017

Identifier

FSU_2017SP_Keaton_fsu_0071E_13707

Format

Thesis

Title

“Laborers Together with God”: Civilian Public Service and Public Health in the South during World War II.

During World War II, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 required conscientious objectors (COs) who opposed any form of military service to perform "work of national importance under civilian direction." The program that carried out this alternative service was the Civilian Public Service (CPS), in which approximately 12,000 pacifists served at 151 camps established across the nation during the war. Some of those camps were in Florida and Mississippi, where CPS men worked with... Show moreDuring World War II, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 required conscientious objectors (COs) who opposed any form of military service to perform "work of national importance under civilian direction." The program that carried out this alternative service was the Civilian Public Service (CPS), in which approximately 12,000 pacifists served at 151 camps established across the nation during the war. Some of those camps were in Florida and Mississippi, where CPS men worked with state and local public health authorities to combat diseases that plagued the South's poor, including hookworm and malaria. Though an advance over previous options for COs, CPS was not always well-received, by either the American people or the men who served within it. This dissertation will examine the camps in Florida and Mississippi to assess the success (or lack thereof) of the CPS alternative service program during the war, and also to explore the larger question of how well the United States upholds and protects the right of its citizens (particularly, nonconformist citizens) during a time of national crisis. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_2015fall_Tomlinson_fsu_0071E_12875

Format

Thesis

Title

"Point at One, Abuse Another": Framing WWII in Chinese and Japanese Middle School Textbooks, 1950-1990.

The recent two decades have witnessed a developing historical debate between China and Japan. Standing in the center of this debate are different historical interpretations presented in textbooks. Both China and Japan seem to blame each other for promoting supposedly politically-biased historical education. This has become a growing problem causing wide concerns even internationally: on the one hand, there is an increasing debate about the supposed existence of "Anti-Japanese" education in... Show moreThe recent two decades have witnessed a developing historical debate between China and Japan. Standing in the center of this debate are different historical interpretations presented in textbooks. Both China and Japan seem to blame each other for promoting supposedly politically-biased historical education. This has become a growing problem causing wide concerns even internationally: on the one hand, there is an increasing debate about the supposed existence of "Anti-Japanese" education in China since the last decade of 20th century; on the other, many scholars from China, Japan and the Western world also criticize what they see as a distorted (or omitted) history of the war presented in Japanese textbooks. According to the "framing" theories introduced by scholars such as Foucault, Giltin, Gamson, and Modigliani in the late 20th century, history textbooks, just like media, could "organize the world" both for authors who wrote them and students who rely on them. There are many skills in framing history in textbooks and one of them is the skill of "pointing at one [to] abuse another." Using a specific technique to analyze the interplays between changing politics and educational narratives surrounding World War II (which began in China in 1937) in Chinese and Japanese middle school textbooks during a certain period: 1950-1990, the paper aims to discover the history of changing narratives about World War II in both Chinese and Japanese middle school history textbooks and how they interacted with politics over time. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_2016SP_Shi_fsu_0071N_13252

Format

Thesis

Title

"What's Love Got to Do with It?": The Master-Slave Relationship in Black Women's Neo-Slave Narratives.

A growing impulse in American black female fiction is the reclamation of black female sexuality due to slavery's proliferation of sexual stereotypes about black women. Because of slave law's silencing of rape culture, issues of consent, will, and agency become problematized in a larger dilemma surrounding black humanity and the repression of black female sexuality. Since the enslaved female was always assumed to be willing, because she is legally unable to give consent or resist, locating... Show moreA growing impulse in American black female fiction is the reclamation of black female sexuality due to slavery's proliferation of sexual stereotypes about black women. Because of slave law's silencing of rape culture, issues of consent, will, and agency become problematized in a larger dilemma surrounding black humanity and the repression of black female sexuality. Since the enslaved female was always assumed to be willing, because she is legally unable to give consent or resist, locating black female desire within the confines of slavery becomes largely impossible. Yet, contemporary re-imaginings of desire in this context becomes an important point of departure for re-membering contemporary black female subjectivity. "What's Love Got to Do With It?" is an alternative look at master-slave relationships, particularly those between white men and black women, featured in contemporary slave narratives by black women writers. Although black feminist critics have long considered love an unavailable, if not, unthinkable construct within the context of interracial relationships during slavery, this project locates this unexpected emotion within four neo-slave narratives. Finding moments of love and desire from, both, slaveholders and slaves, this study nuances monolithic historical players we are usually quick to adjudicate. Drawing on black feminist criticism, history, and critical race theory, this study outlines the importance of exhuming these historic relationships from silence, acknowledging the legacies they left for heterosexual love and race relations, and exploring what lessons we can take away from them today. Recognizing the ongoing tension between remembering and forgetting and the inherent value in both, this study bridges the gap by delineating the importance of perspective and the stories we choose to tell. Rather than being forever haunted by traumatic memories of the past and proliferating stories of violence and abuse, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Octavia Butler, Gayle Jones, and Gloria Naylor's novels reveal that there are ways to negotiate the past, use what you need, and come to a more holistic place where love is available. Show less

Date Issued

2017

Identifier

FSU_2017SP_Price_fsu_0071E_13737

Format

Thesis

Title

‘Our Bonaparte?’: Republicanism, Religion, and Paranoia in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, 1789-1830.

"‘Our Bonaparte’: Republicanism, Religion, and Paranoia in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, 1789-1830," examines how American politicians used the idea of Napoleon Bonaparte to reflect (or distort) contemporary political issues in the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States. It shows how Napoleon became a standard piece of political imagery to either support or attack specific political beliefs and opinions during the first three decades of the nineteenth century, depending... Show more"‘Our Bonaparte’: Republicanism, Religion, and Paranoia in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, 1789-1830," examines how American politicians used the idea of Napoleon Bonaparte to reflect (or distort) contemporary political issues in the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas of the United States. It shows how Napoleon became a standard piece of political imagery to either support or attack specific political beliefs and opinions during the first three decades of the nineteenth century, depending on which political faction was discussing Bonaparte at the time. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_FA2016_Luke_fsu_0071E_13559

Format

Thesis

Title

(Un)Sure Writers: Potential Fluctuations in Self-Efficacy during the Writing Process.

In “Some Thoughts about Feelings,” Susan McLeod encourages teachers to develop a “theory of affect” that could account for the various emotional processes that students encounter while writing (433). One contribution to such a theory concerns self-efficacy, a mechanism by which students interpret this emotional, sensory input. Self-efficacy plays a crucial role in understanding how students write as both a cognitive and affective activity. As students engage with various texts, they enter... Show moreIn “Some Thoughts about Feelings,” Susan McLeod encourages teachers to develop a “theory of affect” that could account for the various emotional processes that students encounter while writing (433). One contribution to such a theory concerns self-efficacy, a mechanism by which students interpret this emotional, sensory input. Self-efficacy plays a crucial role in understanding how students write as both a cognitive and affective activity. As students engage with various texts, they enter into a process wherein they must mediate and interpret the skills they possess. These interpretations, and the beliefs on which they are based, can significantly enable or hinder writers as they engage in the composing process. Therefore, students' self-efficacy beliefs are vital to their success as writers, both inside and outside of the classroom. Although a significant amount of research explores self-efficacy as related to motivation and performance outcomes, little has been done to map the potential fluctuations of students’ self-efficacy beliefs throughout the composing process. As students progress through a writing assignment, they encounter challenges to their self-efficacy, such as reading the assignment sheet, drafting, receiving feedback, revising, and assessment. These challenges suggest that self-efficacy is not a stable phenomenon; rather, self-efficacy very probably fluctuates as students engage with the challenges presented by a specific task. Understanding the nature of potential fluctuations is important, then, both in a theory of self-efficacy and in teaching writing. Accordingly, this study seeks to determine if, how, when, and from what causes students’ self-efficacy fluctuates over the course of a single writing assignment involving multiple drafts. To examine potential fluctuations in students’ self-efficacy, I conducted a case study with two students enrolled in a single section of ENC 1101. I interviewed each of the participants face to face twice—once before they reviewed the assignment and again after they submitted the assignment to be graded—in order to create a narrative arc of their sense of self-efficacy throughout the assignment. These interviews were supplemented by self-assessment questionnaires that were completed by students at four designated moments chosen by the researcher and one spontaneous moment chosen by the subjects. The questionnaires consist of two parts: a quantitative self-assessment and a qualitative reflection. The quantitative self-assessment operates as a self-efficacy scale in order to determine how students perceive their abilities at specific moments in the writing process. Following each of the five quantitative assessment occasions, students were then asked to respond to a prompt designed to engage them in a qualitative reflection. These qualitative reflections were coded to determine self-efficacy fluctuations, sources of self-efficacy beliefs, and strategies that students evolved to cope with potential fluctuations. I triangulated these data to generate a rich description of the potential ebbs and flows of self-efficacy across the composing process. My data reveals that self-efficacy does fluctuate as students engage with a single assignment involving multiple drafts. However, the fluctuations manifested in different ways and to different degrees. Fluctuations occurred both from moment to moment during the composing process as well as within each discrete moment of the writing process. Additionally, the students reported that performance accomplishments, social persuasion, and physiological reactions played a role in determining their efficacy perceptions and, thus, in triggering fluctuations. The students drew from these sources to varying degrees, and interpreted the sources differently. These data suggest that the sources students draw from to determine their efficacy beliefs vary from study to student and that the more influential sources are most likely to trigger fluctuations. Finally, this study explores the strategies students evolved to address fluctuations. The results of this study illustrate the need for compositionists to attend to what points in the writing process fluctuations are likely to occur, what factors in the writing process might trigger those fluctuations, and what strategies students evolve to address fluctuations. To that end, these findings invite compositionists to reconsider the role of self-efficacy in the writing classroom, and subsequently alter our pedagogy to account for fluctuations in self-efficacy beliefs as our students compose. Show less

It is known that the category of Waldhausen categories is a closed symmetric multicategory and algebraic K-theory is a multifunctor from the category of Waldhuasen categories to the category of spectra. By assigning to any Waldhausen category the fundamental groupoid of the 1-type of its K-theory spectrum, we get a functor from the category of Waldhausen categories to the category of Picard groupoids, since stable 1-types are classified by Picard groupoids. We prove that this functor is a... Show moreIt is known that the category of Waldhausen categories is a closed symmetric multicategory and algebraic K-theory is a multifunctor from the category of Waldhuasen categories to the category of spectra. By assigning to any Waldhausen category the fundamental groupoid of the 1-type of its K-theory spectrum, we get a functor from the category of Waldhausen categories to the category of Picard groupoids, since stable 1-types are classified by Picard groupoids. We prove that this functor is a multifunctor to a corresponding multicategory of Picard groupoids. Show less

Two experiments have been performed at Florida State University using the FSU Compton- Suppressed HPGe Array and associated particle telescope. The first experiment used the 9Be(18O, pnγ) reaction at 35 MeV to study the nuclear structure of 25Na. The second experiment used the 9Be(14C, pnγ) reaction at 30, 35, and 45 MeV to study the nuclear structure of 21F. Particle-γ and particle-γ-γ coincidence data were analyzed resulting in the discovery of several new gamma rays and states for both... Show moreTwo experiments have been performed at Florida State University using the FSU Compton- Suppressed HPGe Array and associated particle telescope. The first experiment used the 9Be(18O, pnγ) reaction at 35 MeV to study the nuclear structure of 25Na. The second experiment used the 9Be(14C, pnγ) reaction at 30, 35, and 45 MeV to study the nuclear structure of 21F. Particle-γ and particle-γ-γ coincidence data were analyzed resulting in the discovery of several new gamma rays and states for both nuclei; this includes resolving a doublet in 25Na which has caused significant confusion in previous works. Angular distributions, lifetimes, and transition strengths have been measured for both nuclei. Shell model calculations have been performed using the USDA and WBP interactions; in addition to 0-particle-0-hole states, 1p1h states have been calculated for both nuclei and, in 21F, 2p2h states have been calculated as well. Show less

This study examines clergy in colonial New England and how they depicted dead bodies in their funeral sermons. Whether it was second generation Puritan ministers like William Hubbard and Samuel Willard, or third generation ministers like Benjamin Colman and Benjamin Wadsworth, ministers imagined their resting subjects as a "pillar," "shield," "withering grass," or "vapor." I argue their language of the body, such as the use of specific terms within certain contexts, reflected social and... Show moreThis study examines clergy in colonial New England and how they depicted dead bodies in their funeral sermons. Whether it was second generation Puritan ministers like William Hubbard and Samuel Willard, or third generation ministers like Benjamin Colman and Benjamin Wadsworth, ministers imagined their resting subjects as a "pillar," "shield," "withering grass," or "vapor." I argue their language of the body, such as the use of specific terms within certain contexts, reflected social and religious trends in New England, from its Puritan origins to its welcoming of moderate Christianity in the eighteenth-century. Chapter Two observes Puritan funeral sermons and their relation to King Philip's War and second generation perception of natural depravity. Chapter Three discusses funeral sermons and their reflection of the third generation's shift toward English intellectualism and religious optimism. In conclusion, I argue funeral sermons and their generational developments spoke to more than specific superlatives of the dead. With the body of the dead as their canvas, New England ministers illustrated prevailing mentalities about religious and cultural thought. They spoke to how authority was mediated and to what extent human nature could be trusted. New England clergy entered into public discourse about the inherent abilities, or disabilities, their congregations were defined by. Through their imaginative definitions of dead bodies, they ventured to define survivors and their place in the Church. Show less

Date Issued

2017

Identifier

FSU_2017SP_Adkins_fsu_0071N_13875

Format

Thesis

Title

Abjection and Adoption in Lessing, Kleist, and Kafka.

Creator

Rylander, Luke, Weber, Christian, Weber, Alina Dana, Maier-Katkin, Birgit, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics

Abstract/Description

This thesis looks at the intertextuality among Lessing's Nathan der Weise, Kleist's Der Findling and Kafka's Das Urteil. Focus is laid on the repeated deployment of specific character types: an elderly, morally minded merchant and his adopted children. By tracing the similarities and differences of these literary works, themes of economics and adoption come to be understood as central motifs in these texts, and the different depictions of these motifs are shown to reflect differing notions of... Show moreThis thesis looks at the intertextuality among Lessing's Nathan der Weise, Kleist's Der Findling and Kafka's Das Urteil. Focus is laid on the repeated deployment of specific character types: an elderly, morally minded merchant and his adopted children. By tracing the similarities and differences of these literary works, themes of economics and adoption come to be understood as central motifs in these texts, and the different depictions of these motifs are shown to reflect differing notions of the self. The analyses in this thesis draw heavily upon the theory of the abject as portrayed in Julia Kristeva's Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection. Whereas Kristeva understands abjection as functioning within the context of a "social economy," this thesis tracks its treatment within other economic structures, starting with a moral economy in Lessing's drama, moving to an emotional economy in Kleist's novella, and ending with a semiotic economy in Kafka's novella. Show less

The ability to construct radial wind profiles of tropical cyclones (TC) from limited observations is crucial to the initialization of TC simulations and predictions. A minimum requirement for constructing a reasonable radial wind profile is a high skill in estimating one of the four TC characteristic parameters, namely maximum wind speed (Vmax), radius of maximum wind speed (rmax), 17 ms−1 wind speed (V17), and radius of 17 ms−1 wind (r17) from the other three. In this study, we put froth an... Show moreThe ability to construct radial wind profiles of tropical cyclones (TC) from limited observations is crucial to the initialization of TC simulations and predictions. A minimum requirement for constructing a reasonable radial wind profile is a high skill in estimating one of the four TC characteristic parameters, namely maximum wind speed (Vmax), radius of maximum wind speed (rmax), 17 ms−1 wind speed (V17), and radius of 17 ms−1 wind (r17) from the other three. In this study, we put froth an absolute angular momentum (AAM) based analytical model for inferring the radial profile beyond the rmax from observations of these four parameters. An observed AAM loss L is defined as the ratio of the observed AAM at r17 to that at rmax. We parameterize the observed AAM loss L as an analytical function of these four parameters and environmental factors. The combination of analytical expressions of the AAM loss L and the AAM at r17 and rmax, gives us the analytical model. This observation-physics model allows us to construct radial profiles of TCs under four different configurations from observations of these four parameters. Specifically, we can use Vmax and rmax as inputs for solving (a) the tangential velocity profile of a TC from rmax to r17 or (b) the TC's radius for a given tangential velocity from Vmax to V17. Alternatively, we can use V17 and r17 as inputs for solving (c) the tangential velocity profile of a TC from r17 to rmax or (d) the TC's radius for a given tangential velocity from V17 to Vmax. This enables us to acquire radial wind profiles when one of the four parameters is not available in observations. The degree of consistency of (a) versus (c) and (b) versus (d) is an indicator of the robustness of the model. We evaluate the skill of our model using 4491 records of 197 named TCs derived from the Extended Best Track Dataset for the period of 1998-2016, and find that the mean errors in estimating Vmax, rmax, V17, and r17 are, respectively, 5.95 m/s, 25.37 km, 3.33 m/s, and 57.67 km. The proposed model has several advantages over widely recognized existing TC wind profile models. Most empirical models, for example, are designed to construct radial wind profiles in only one of the four configurations. While other physics-based models have mean errors in Vmax, rmax, and r17 that are larger by several factors. Furthermore, our model can yield physically realistic radial wind profiles and solutions of TC characteristic parameters (meaning that for radial wind profiles, wind velocity decreases monotonically from rmax to r17, and for solutions, Vmax > V17 > 0 and r17 > rmax > 0) for all 4491 TC records, regardless of which of the four configurations is chosen. For more than 10% of the TC records, however, other physics-based models have radial wind profiles that are discrete or increases from the inside to outside, and have solutions that either do not exist or are not physical under certain configurations. Show less

Date Issued

2019

Identifier

2019_Summer_Yan_fsu_0071E_15321

Format

Thesis

Title

Access to Polysubstituted Heterocycles and Fluorescent Indicators from a Single Enamine Class.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an ongoing epidemic affecting millions of people worldwide, with the majority of those infected living in poverty. Today, multiple treatment options exist for anti-retroviral therapy (ART). However, access to ART for those living in low- to middle-income countries is hampered by the high costs of the medications. In an effort to increase the accessibility of one anti-viral, nevirapine, our group has... Show moreAcquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an ongoing epidemic affecting millions of people worldwide, with the majority of those infected living in poverty. Today, multiple treatment options exist for anti-retroviral therapy (ART). However, access to ART for those living in low- to middle-income countries is hampered by the high costs of the medications. In an effort to increase the accessibility of one anti-viral, nevirapine, our group has investigated alternative syntheses in order to lower the production cost. The majority of the nevirapine production cost is due to the polysubstituted pyridine building block, 2-chloro-3-amino-4-picoline (CAPIC), because the synthesis begins from an expensive ketone. To decrease the cost of the nevirapine process, the synthesis to CAPIC was redesigned to begin from an alkylidene malononitrile prepared from the inexpensive commodity chemicals, acetone and malononitrile. The alkylidene malononitrile is then treated with N,N-dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (DMF-DMA) to afford an enamine intermediate. This enamine is readily cyclized under Pinner conditions with HCl to afford the polysubstituted 2-chloronicotinonitrile, a pyridine that could then be transformed into CAPIC in two steps. Unfortunately, the new proposed route to CAPIC was the low-yielding due to the dimerization of the alkylidene malononitrile during the enamine formation step. After testing a series of additives, we found that acetic anhydride in substoichiometric quantities enabled the enamine to be synthesized in quantitative yields. The acetic anhydride is presumed to be a unique acetate source that enhances the rate of the enamine formation to prevent the dimerization of alkylidene malononitrile. The method could also be applied to a number of other ylidenemalononitriles to synthesize a variety of mono- and disubstituted 2-halonicotinonitriles in moderate to high yields. To further lower the production costs to CAPIC, the newly revised synthesis from acetone to the 2-bromonicotinonitrile intermediate was implemented in a semi-continuous flow synthesis. The flow synthesis consists of first the Knoevenagel condensation between acetone and malononitrile in a basic aluminum oxide packed-bed column followed removal of any residual water by a 3 Å molecular sieve column to afford the alkylidene malononitrile. The alkylidene malononitrile is then met with a stream of DMF-DMA and acetic anhydride to form the enamine. Lastly, the enamine solution produced is added directly to a round-bottom containing acetic acid and HBr to perform the Pinner cyclization to the desired nicotinonitrile. With this process, the nicotinonitrile is produced in 69% overall yield within 2 h as opposed to over 24 h by the batch process. This process inspired our collaborators to develop a streamlined batch synthesis of the nicotinonitrile that will be implemented in an industrial setting. Overall, these improvements in the CAPIC process will enable at least a 75% decrease in the nevirapine production cost. Upon achieving a lower cost production to CAPIC, we investigated whether the proton in the Pinner cyclization could be replaced with an alternative electrophile to yield more diverse nicotinonitriles. After a deuterium incorporation experiment suggesting the mechanism of the Pinner cyclization would allow the addition of alternative electrophiles, we examined the cyclization with allyl bromide. While the original enamine only produced the desired allyl substituted nicotinonitrile in trace amounts, the ester analog of the enamine enabled a much more facile cyclization. However, the cyclization occurred with the ester to synthesize an allyl substituted α-pyrone. This prompted an investigation of the reactivity of the ester analog with other organohalides to synthesize a variety of α-pyrones. Lastly, three enamines were demonstrated to undergo a rapid amine exchange followed by a cyclization with primary amines to yield fluorescent products that were determined to be cyclic amidines by X-ray crystallography. A fluorescent "turn-on" effect is observed due to the amidines exhibiting emission intensities as high as 900 times greater than the starting enamines. The rate of cyclization is demonstrated to be substrate-dependent and simple structural variations to the enamine could both change the rate of the amine exchange/cyclization and emission wavelength. We further demonstrate the potential for one enamine to participate in biomolecule labeling applications. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9640

Format

Thesis

Title

The Acquisition of Intonation by L2 Spanish Speakers While on a Six Week Study Abroad Program in Valencia, Spain.

Creator

Craft, Jessica, González, Carolina, Reglero, Lara, Muntendam, Antje, Brandl, Anel, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern Languages and... Show moreCraft, Jessica, González, Carolina, Reglero, Lara, Muntendam, Antje, Brandl, Anel, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics Show less

Abstract/Description

This study explores the acquisition of intonation by Spanish second language speakers while on a study abroad program in Valencia, Spain. The investigation consists of two groups: a control group and an instruction group. The instruction group participated in perception trainings while the control group did not. As this region of Spain is also bilingual, and there are no studies currently in the literature that describe the Spanish of Valencian speakers, this study also presents data from... Show moreThis study explores the acquisition of intonation by Spanish second language speakers while on a study abroad program in Valencia, Spain. The investigation consists of two groups: a control group and an instruction group. The instruction group participated in perception trainings while the control group did not. As this region of Spain is also bilingual, and there are no studies currently in the literature that describe the Spanish of Valencian speakers, this study also presents data from native speakers who completed the same task as the non-native speakers. Show less

ABSTRACT The bias adjustment of visually estimated ship winds in the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) is addressed through the comparison to the QuickSCAT scatterometer equivalent neutral winds. We assume that visually estimated winds and satellite scatterometer winds share similar characteristics, which are a function of stress rather than wind speed, and treat the estimated ship winds as equivalent neutral winds. Under such an assumption, we use statistical... Show moreABSTRACT The bias adjustment of visually estimated ship winds in the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) is addressed through the comparison to the QuickSCAT scatterometer equivalent neutral winds. We assume that visually estimated winds and satellite scatterometer winds share similar characteristics, which are a function of stress rather than wind speed, and treat the estimated ship winds as equivalent neutral winds. Under such an assumption, we use statistical analyses to calculate the bias correction for estimated ship winds. Because observation practices vary by country and data provider, ICOADS identifies datasets by "deck" which is a number that allows for differentiating the source of the records (different deck numbers indicate different data collections provided to ICOADS, each which may contain one or more sources/countries). Three ICOADS decks 792, 926, and 992 contain the vast majority (~90%) of collocated visually estimated ship winds covering the time period November 1999-October 2009. The Root-Mean-Square difference between these visually estimated ship winds and scatterometer winds are 3.0ms-1, 2.8ms-1 and 2.9ms-1 for each major deck respectively. Following the methodology of Freilich (1997) and Freilich and Dunbar (1999), we numerically show that for lower wind speeds (0ms-1-5ms-1 in this case) that the random error in the component of the visually estimated ship winds causes an artificial appearance of an overestimation relative to satellite scatterometer winds. We also extend this statistical artifact test to test higher wind speeds (12ms-1-18ms-1 in this case) through a Monte Carlo approach. An apparent slight drop of the conditional sample means relative to reference line is shown to be a statistical artifact. These artificial biases are properly accounted in this study. A new bias correction, LMS correction, is calculated and also compared to prior corrections such as Lindau (1995). This new bias correction is available for wind speeds ranging from 0ms-1 to 17ms-1, because there are too few spatial and temporal collocated matches at wind speed greater than 17ms-1. We are limited in our ability to perform the adjustments required for intercallibration because when comparing visual winds to scatterometer winds the necessary wind speed observations are rare and small in magnitude. Show less

Found throughout nature, science, industry, and medicine, conjugated dienes and trienes are ubiquitous. While their behavior changes upon substitution, they are all built from the same fundamental units of either 1,3-butadiene or the 1,3,5-hexatrienes. These basic units undergo fascinatingly complex photochemistry, which is mimicked or changed upon substitution. Developing a proper understanding the photochemistry of these fundamental units, and the reasons for divergence from their basic... Show moreFound throughout nature, science, industry, and medicine, conjugated dienes and trienes are ubiquitous. While their behavior changes upon substitution, they are all built from the same fundamental units of either 1,3-butadiene or the 1,3,5-hexatrienes. These basic units undergo fascinatingly complex photochemistry, which is mimicked or changed upon substitution. Developing a proper understanding the photochemistry of these fundamental units, and the reasons for divergence from their basic behavior upon substitution, enables their use in optical applications and provides evidence which can be used to advance modern molecular quantum mechanics. The compounds studied are the 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadienes, the isomers of Vitamin D3, and the 1,3,5-hexatrienes. These compounds undergo reaction upon excitation with ultraviolet light that causes bond breakage, reordering, and reorganization. The primary process studied herein is the cis-trans photoisomerization of double bonds. This process is described primarily through the application of the one bond twist, hula-twist, and bicycle pedal photoisomerization mechanisms. Significant debate focused on finding a unifying explanation to excited state cis-trans photoisomerization currently surrounds these mechanisms. The reader is encouraged to access the abstract of the electronic dissertation to view the movies modeled for these cis-trans photoisomerizations, which are described later on page 63 of the dissertation. This dissertation is split between three parts. First, the photoisomerization of the 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadienes was studied in ethanol to search for evidence of conical intersections, which are considered equivalent to transition states in photochemical reactions. Second, since the validity of the hula-twist mechanism has been questioned on many occasions in the literature, the prima facie evidence used for its justification, the photoisomerizations of Previtamin D3 in volume confining media, were reinvestigated using more powerful methods. To conclude this work, the photoisomerizations of the 1,3,5-hexatrienes were reexamined, as no experimental evidence currently accounts for the majority of their photochemical decay. Surprisingly, results provided prior to this work account for less than 10% of the hexatrienes excited state decay. Extracting the information contained in this dissertation required the development and application of unique and sophisticated spectral decomposition techniques for UV-Vis, fluorescence, fluorescence excitation, and 1H-NMR spectroscopies. The results of this work suggest that conical intersections exist close to the twisted excited singlet geometries of the 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadienes, show that the original experimental evidence for the hula-twist mechanism was based upon a misinterpretation of the photoisomerizations of Previtamin D3, and reveal that cis-trans photoisomerization accounts for nearly all of the excited state decay of the 1,3,5-hexatrienes in solution. The impact of the first study reconciles previous reports for the photoaddition of alcohol to the 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadienes under a general path of addition to a short lived phantom intermediate. This mechanism is likely general and extends to similar molecules which undergo photoaddition of alcohol in the singlet state. It additionally confirms that the twisted singlet intermediate of the 1,4-diphenyl-1,3-butadienes is zwitterionic in nature, and that the bicycle pedal photoisomerization mechanism occurs in a step-wise and not concerted manner, in certain circumstances. The second study raises concern regarding the validity of the conclusions from numerous studies which reported hula-twist products, and perhaps should be reconsidered as photoisomerizations from one bond twist or bicycle pedal precursors. The concluding study signifies need for renewed interest in the photochemistry of the 1,3,5-hexatrienes by theory. The latest theoretical studies on the matter are not in harmony with the recently obtained experimental evidence. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_2016SP_Redwood_fsu_0071E_13189

Format

Thesis

Title

Advice and Discontent: Staging Identity through Legal Representation on the British Stage, 1660-1800.

One of the key issues that arises when discussing the long eighteenth century is that of identity: self/individual, and group/national. Whereas recent critical work in both literary studies and historiography has concerned itself with the circumstances surrounding the long eighteenth century's fundamental shifts in conceptions of identity, much of this work overlooks the potential for identity to be relational, rather than either exterior or interior to an individual/group. This dissertation... Show moreOne of the key issues that arises when discussing the long eighteenth century is that of identity: self/individual, and group/national. Whereas recent critical work in both literary studies and historiography has concerned itself with the circumstances surrounding the long eighteenth century's fundamental shifts in conceptions of identity, much of this work overlooks the potential for identity to be relational, rather than either exterior or interior to an individual/group. This dissertation explores the relational nature of identity formation in the long eighteenth century by examining a literary genre and a character that depend upon relational interactions in order to sustain themselves: stage comedies and lawyers. Representative dramatic comedies by writers such as George Farquhar, Richard Cumberland, Thomas Lewis O'Beirne, William Wycherly, Christopher Bullock, Henry Fielding, John O'Keeffe, Colley Cibber, George Colman and David Garrick, and Samuel Foote, offer opportunities to study staged representations of lawyers whose clients' issues essentially become those of identity formation. This dissertation argues that, for many characters struggling to establish an identity that can participate in a national British identity, the key to such participation lies in access to real property; when access to real property is denied them, they must turn to someone who is himself struggling to establish an identity. At this point, lawyers in eighteenth-century British comedies become much more than stock characters or mere comic relief. Instead, the lawyer—often ostracized and derided himself—becomes a mediator not just of individual identity, but of "Britishness." Careful attention to lawyers' success representing different types of clients struggling to establish identities through access to real property highlights both the power of relational identity formation and the key roles that arguably minor characters have in arbitrating issues of national significance. Show less

Our aim is to study the affine dimension of some smooth manifolds. In Chapter 1, we review the notions of Minkowski and Hausdorff dimension, and compare them with the lesser studied affine dimension. In Chapter 2, we focus on understanding the affine dimension of curves. In Section 2.1, we review the existing results for the affine dimension of a strictly convex curve in the plane, and in Section 2.2, we classify the smooth curves in ℝn based on affine dimension. In Chapter 3, we classify the... Show moreOur aim is to study the affine dimension of some smooth manifolds. In Chapter 1, we review the notions of Minkowski and Hausdorff dimension, and compare them with the lesser studied affine dimension. In Chapter 2, we focus on understanding the affine dimension of curves. In Section 2.1, we review the existing results for the affine dimension of a strictly convex curve in the plane, and in Section 2.2, we classify the smooth curves in ℝn based on affine dimension. In Chapter 3, we classify the smooth hypersurfaces in ℝ3 with non-negative Gaussian curvature based on affine dimension, and in Chapter 4 we provide a lower and upper bound for the affine dimension of smooth, convex hypersurfaces in ℝn. Show less

Hosten, Amana, Nicholson, Sharon E., Chagnon, Jeffrey M., Hart, Robert E., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric... Show moreHosten, Amana, Nicholson, Sharon E., Chagnon, Jeffrey M., Hart, Robert E., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science Show less

Abstract/Description

The African Easterly Jet (AEJ) is one of the phenomena driving regional as well as global atmospheric circulation. Specifically, within the Sahel region, the AEJ and African Eastern Waves (AEWs) are main features that are linked and associated with the West African Monsoon. Both features determine rainfall and tropical cyclone development in this region. For certain years, the AEJ has a double core structure during the month of August when the jet is the strongest. The goal of this study is... Show moreThe African Easterly Jet (AEJ) is one of the phenomena driving regional as well as global atmospheric circulation. Specifically, within the Sahel region, the AEJ and African Eastern Waves (AEWs) are main features that are linked and associated with the West African Monsoon. Both features determine rainfall and tropical cyclone development in this region. For certain years, the AEJ has a double core structure during the month of August when the jet is the strongest. The goal of this study is to identify distinct cases of the AEJ structure and determine the possible effect on AEW development. For this study, zonal and meridional wind data at 600 hPa was obtained from NCEP reanalysis during the month of August from 1948 to 2016. Maps of zonal wind were made to show the structure of the AEJ. Hovmöller diagrams of the 2.5 to 6-day meridional wind and maps of meridional wind variance were made to show the strength and track of AEWs. Results identified distinct cases where the structure of the AEJ deviated from its long-term mean, including the western (eastern) core being located north relative to the eastern (western) core. The double core cases with the southward eastern core has significantly stronger AEW activity with longer average tracks. However, on inter-annual scales, there is not a strong link between the AEW activity and east Atlantic tropical cyclone activity. The difference between the cases provide valuable insight about the relationship between the AEJ, easterly waves and tropical cyclone formation at the West African coast. Show less

Scholars of religion and the humanities more often than not claim to engage in critical inquiry. Too often, however, these claims are not adequately justified. To resolve this problem, this dissertation turns to the philosophical movement known as phenomenology. Inaugurated by Edmund Husserl and developed by Martin Heidegger, this philosophical movement, at its best, has focused on how our consciousness of the world is structured by our intentional relation with it. At its worst, this... Show moreScholars of religion and the humanities more often than not claim to engage in critical inquiry. Too often, however, these claims are not adequately justified. To resolve this problem, this dissertation turns to the philosophical movement known as phenomenology. Inaugurated by Edmund Husserl and developed by Martin Heidegger, this philosophical movement, at its best, has focused on how our consciousness of the world is structured by our intentional relation with it. At its worst, this tradition of philosophy has supported essentialism, that is, the belief that we can bracket our social, political, and historical contexts and in doing so attain unchanging knowledge of our world. The phenomenological method has a complex history within the study of religion. Phenomenologists of religion believed that they could discern a common essence behind different religious traditions. The phenomenological approach is no longer popular among scholars in the study of religion. Russell McCutcheon, for example, claims that the phenomenological approach has allowed scholars to implicitly protect religious traditions, and indeed the very category of religion, from criticism. For McCutcheon, when scholars essentialize religion, they place it outside the social and political realm, and make it immune from critique. On McCutcheon’s account, however, it is not simply phenomenology of religion, but the phenomenological method itself, that is to blame for this lack of critical rigor. To examine the plausibility of this claim, the first three chapters of this dissertation examine the work of three of the most widely cited phenomenologists of religion—Rudolf Otto, Gerardus van der Leeuw, and Mircea Eliade—and show how their work does and does not share in the same philosophical assumptions as Husserl and Heidegger. I contend that much of their work does suffer from the problem of essentialism that McCutcheon identifies. I also contend that some of the blame for this should be pinned on Husserl, for whom essential knowledge remained an important aspiration. This, however, does not mean that all phenomenology should be abandoned. In the fourth chapter, I argue that existential phenomenology not only allows for critical analysis, but also offers a more plausible grounding for critique. McCutcheon’s method seeks to fix our knowledge of the world by arguing that our claims about it, including our claims about religion, are constituted by power relations. But if this were the case, scholarship itself would simply be an expression of power, and for that reason its critiques could never be evaluated using criteria established by reason. Through an examination of Heidegger’s early lectures and Being and Time, I provide a justification for a critical approach to examining religious traditions. What makes Heidegger’s account useful, I contend, is his analysis of the formation of a subject who can take up and critique the norms that govern his or her life, not by placing him- or herself outside of his or her tradition, but by taking up a place within it. This grounding makes possible a non-essentialist approach to critique. It takes the content of our lives to be made up of the historically, socially, and politically contingent norms that govern us. But it also offers an account of how we can take up and critique those norms. In the final chapter of the dissertation, I cash out this approach’s usefulness by turning to recent debates surrounding natural law. As opposed to some approaches to natural law reasoning which claim that there are essential moral and ethical goods that make up the natural law and transcend our contexts, Jean Porter and Vincent Lloyd argue for a tradition-based approach to natural law that takes the content of the natural law to be dependent upon the social and historical contexts in which proponents of natural law locate themselves. I argue that John Finnis and Germain Grisez, along with two critics of Finnis and Grisez, Lisa Cahill and Cristina Traina, desire to fix the content of the natural law in an essentialist manner, and that Porter and Lloyd offer a more compelling account of natural law reasoning that is amenable to Heidegger’s existential phenomenology. This chapter thus shows how the previously proposed phenomenological account of selfhood can be used to critique a religious tradition without fixing that tradition as either a manifestation of a sacred reality or of power. The dissertation ends with a reflection on the role of irony in the study of religion, arguing that irony should be used by scholars to challenge the status quo, but should not be used cynically to suggest that there is no way to move beyond it. Show less

Date Issued

2018

Identifier

2018_Sp_Lupo_fsu_0071E_14397

Format

Thesis

Title

Against Modernity: New Perspectives on the Catholic Worker Communal Movement and the Fight for Dignity in Labor, 1936 to 1945.

This thesis examines the Catholic Worker movement’s understanding of antimodernism and modernity through its first farming commune, Maryfarm. Created during the middle of the Great Depression, Maryfarm became the initial foray into Peter Maurin’s ideal of the agronomic university. As part of Maurin’s three-point program for social reconstruction, the agronomic university would conceptually seek to re-humanize individuals through the land. According to the Catholic Worker movement’s co... Show moreThis thesis examines the Catholic Worker movement’s understanding of antimodernism and modernity through its first farming commune, Maryfarm. Created during the middle of the Great Depression, Maryfarm became the initial foray into Peter Maurin’s ideal of the agronomic university. As part of Maurin’s three-point program for social reconstruction, the agronomic university would conceptually seek to re-humanize individuals through the land. According to the Catholic Worker movement’s co-founders, persons had lost their inherently dignified, selfless, and communal nature through modernity’s demystification of the divine, its reliance on science, and its industrial work ethic. By working together, living together, and owning machinery together on the land, modern individuals would relearn their authentic nature, return to modern urban cores, and reconstruct modernity from within. Yet, Maryfarm’s reality proved anathema to its ideal. Within and without, Maryfarm’s critics increasingly perceived the commune’s disorganization through its lax work ethic and its decentralized structure. While some principled Catholics Workers tilled the land, others failed to realize Maurin’s embodied ethic of self-discipline and personal responsibility for the common good. As the Depression’s unemployed and transient homeless congregated at the commune, the reality of Maryfarm’s decentralized structure grew increasingly discordant with Maurin’s ideal. To understand the discrepancy between Maryfarm’s conception and reality, this thesis argues that the Catholic Worker sought to decenter modernity (as epitomized by industrial capitalism) through its personalist philosophy and its understanding of urban and rural space. The Catholic Worker movement rejected modernity’s individuality, profit-drive, and dehumanizing labor ethos. Through a theology of the Body of Christ, it appropriated the era’s emphases on personal responsibility, thrift, and self-discipline and utilized them to address industrial capitalism’s woes. By seeing Christ in others, Catholic Workers would cultivate selfless personal responsibility for the preservation of community. The movement’s conception of the agronomic university also decentered modernity through its emphasis on rural spaces. With the spiritual and degrading hollowness of industrial cities, the land provided an outlet to reconceive one’s personhood. After this cultivation, Catholic Workers would return to urban spaces and spread their revolution of the heart. But as seen through the reality of Maryfarm, Maurin’s notions of self-discipline and personal responsibility only would reify modern conceptions of individuality and independence. To undertake this study, this thesis historiographically intervenes with two new theoretical perspectives. First, it analyzes Catholic Worker personalism through modern art and, subsequently, embodied practice. To situate personalism historically, this thesis uses modern art as a lens to understand an American antimodern milieu, which challenged modernity and industrial capitalism’s perceived hollowness. By seeking something tangible, Catholic Workers utilized the theology of the Body of Christ to discipline the body to articulate notions of individuals working for the common good. From this antimodern aesthetic, this thesis transitions to another perspective, spatial analysis, to evaluate the conceived agronomic university. The farm’s conceived space sought to reorient individuals out of modernity and into a contemporary manifestation of an envisioned medieval community. Yet, the founders recognized the inextricable connection between urban and rural spaces, the former for its food and the latter for its workers. Eventually, these reconstructed persons would return to urban cores to spread their work ethic. With these two perspectives, this thesis examines conceived bodies and conceived space on Maryfarm’s physical land. As a confluence for unemployed workers, Maryfarm became home to various flows of modern individuals, who brought their experiences, hopes, and desires with them. Because of personalism, Maryfarm rejected any emplaced authority. Instead, workers had to cultivate self-discipline and selflessness on their own. As a contested space, Maryfarm allowed individuals to derive their own meanings and work ethics from their experiences, particularly along gendered lines. Show less

This dissertation both surveys contemporary work in metanormativity and argues for a position that I call moderate normative skepticism. I begin by evaluating efforts to characterize the normative domain and conclude that while some normative concepts and properties are amenable to naturalistic programs of reduction and analysis, other normative concepts and properties are not. I proceed to clarify accounts of reasons, reasoning, and rationality; this establishes argumentative room to... Show moreThis dissertation both surveys contemporary work in metanormativity and argues for a position that I call moderate normative skepticism. I begin by evaluating efforts to characterize the normative domain and conclude that while some normative concepts and properties are amenable to naturalistic programs of reduction and analysis, other normative concepts and properties are not. I proceed to clarify accounts of reasons, reasoning, and rationality; this establishes argumentative room to maneuver for my moderate normative skepticism. Next, I evaluate moral error theories, which I count as close cousins of my own thesis, and I note how these error theories have more profound implications than their authors realize. I claim that, understood properly, these error theories extend to the domain of normative reasons in general. I accept and defend the extension of error theory as a viable position. In the final chapter of my dissertation, I defend my position against charges of self-defeat and attempt to anticipate and defuse potential criticisms. Show less

Drawing from the decision-making literature, the framing and cross-modal discounting paradigms were used to investigate the effect of age on the subjective valuation of technology. Using the framing paradigm to covertly measure age differences in relative subjective valuation, it was hypothesized that older adults would undervalue technology relative to younger adults and when compared to non-technology-related rewards. Through the use of the cross-modal discounting paradigm, it was also... Show moreDrawing from the decision-making literature, the framing and cross-modal discounting paradigms were used to investigate the effect of age on the subjective valuation of technology. Using the framing paradigm to covertly measure age differences in relative subjective valuation, it was hypothesized that older adults would undervalue technology relative to younger adults and when compared to non-technology-related rewards. Through the use of the cross-modal discounting paradigm, it was also hypothesized that older adults would display a larger perceived attribute difference between technology and non-technology-related rewards when compared to younger adults. Three experiments were conducted utilizing both online and in-lab samples. Analysis of the framing items revealed few age differences in risky choice preferences across the scenario modalities. Gift cards for technology or non-technology-related items were not found to be subjectively valued differently between age groups, or differently from unallocated money within age groups. Analysis of the cross-modal discounting items revealed a subset of individuals, evenly distributed across age groups, which perceived a large attribute difference between the gift cards, showing a preference for the non-technology-related reward. These outwardly contradictory results and implications for older adults and technology adoption are discussed. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_2016SU_Best_fsu_0071E_13205

Format

Thesis

Title

Agreement between Parent and Teacher Ratings of Problem Behaviors: The Role of Children's Executive Function.

Discrepancies between parent and teacher ratings of problem behaviors have been reported consistently throughout the literature. This study is built on the Attribution Bias Context Model, which suggests that the differences in the ratings of behavior may reflect different observable behaviors across contexts rather than different interpretations of the behavior by the informants. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which discrepancies in parents’ and teachers’ ratings of... Show moreDiscrepancies between parent and teacher ratings of problem behaviors have been reported consistently throughout the literature. This study is built on the Attribution Bias Context Model, which suggests that the differences in the ratings of behavior may reflect different observable behaviors across contexts rather than different interpretations of the behavior by the informants. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which discrepancies in parents’ and teachers’ ratings of behaviors of young children were associated with children’s executive function (EF). Using a sample of 125 children attending first and second grade in North Florida, EF was directly assessed using a battery of EF measures that was developed for use with this age group, and both parents and teachers completed the Strengths and Weakness of ADHD-related and Normal Behavior (SWAN) questionnaire and Connors Teacher Rating Scale-15 (CTRS) to assess problem behaviors. Quantile regression was used to assess the changes in the relation of the discrepancy between parent and teacher ratings of externalizing problem behaviors and the children’s level of EF using a difference score for each subscale of both questionnaires. Although results from the SWAN inattention subscale were consistent with the hypothesis, results from other subscales and the CTRS were not consistent with the hypothesis. Scores for the Dimension Change Card Sorting (DCCS) task was significantly related to all of the difference scores except for both hyperactivity/impulsivity subscales. Show less

My dissertation, The Alchemy of Sexuality in Early Modern English Lyric Poetry examines the complex relationship of poetry, sexuality and religion to alchemy in early modern England. I analyze poetic representations of transgressive sexuality by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, Thomas Nashe, and Thomas Carew. What emerges from my study is the profound link between alchemical metaphors and poetic expressions of sexuality. These poetic expressions of sexuality develop the poets'... Show moreMy dissertation, The Alchemy of Sexuality in Early Modern English Lyric Poetry examines the complex relationship of poetry, sexuality and religion to alchemy in early modern England. I analyze poetic representations of transgressive sexuality by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, Thomas Nashe, and Thomas Carew. What emerges from my study is the profound link between alchemical metaphors and poetic expressions of sexuality. These poetic expressions of sexuality develop the poets' interrogation of gender hierarchy in early modern England. This dissertation has theoretical implications for how we read early modern English poetry, but there are also physiological dimensions. I examine representations of sex and the disciplined Foucauldian early modern body. Notwithstanding, my primary focus of this disciplined body are the humoral processes that were thought to govern early modern physiology and their Galenic ties to alchemy. As my study makes clear, alchemy represents an interventionist conjunction within the Galenic-Humoral economy that predominated in early modern England. In each chapter I illuminate the means by which the poets utilize alchemical iconography to codify a transgressive body and therefore illuminate an illicit sexuality. In the introductory chapter, I outline the history of alchemy and its relationship to sexuality and religion, and by extension to the early modern body. I end the introduction by asserting that the poets' use of alchemy is not only a symbol of the creative imagination, but also an attempt to map the contours of desire and the poetic mind. Chapter two focuses on books 2 and 3 of Spenser's epic, The Faerie Queene. In this chapter I seek to develop a theory which will account for the excessive erotica found in these books. At first glance the anachronistic term of pornography would seem to account for the sexual activity found in these books. Nonetheless, pornography's contextual later development, and the slipperiness of the term fail to accommodate early modern theories of erotic reading and the disruptive emotions engendered by such readings. Therefore, I suggest the term of passionate discourse which more fully explains the voyeuristic nature of Spenser's epic and his ability to suspend the assault on the body which erotica could potentially provoke. In chapter three I continue my examination of alchemy and its ties to sexuality by a detailed analysis of Shakespeare's "procreative sonnets." I discuss Shakespeare's use of alchemy which enables his creation of a sexually appropriate hermaphrodite thus challenging regimes against the practice of sodomy. While chapter three focuses on Shakespeare's hermaphroditic creation, chapter four considers Donne's appropriation of alchemy in order to substantiate what I term an alchemic transcendental sexuality. Donne's alchemic sexuality is constituted by the metaphors of alchemy as well as the religious discourse of Familism. As with Spenser and Shakespeare, Donne ultimately challenges sexual understandings of the body and the systems that sought to impose artificial and sexual boundaries on the early modern body. Similarly, chapter five contemplates sexual challenges to religious understanding of the body. My focus is Thomas Nashe's "The Choise of Valentines" and Thomas Carew's "A Rapture." Both Nashe and Carew use their speakers to trope sexual performance as alchemical labor and to interrogate women's reproductive potential. Lastly, I conclude this study by commenting on the aesthetic success of the poems. I believe that those poems which have found a prominent place in the English literary canon owe their prominence to how well they have integrated the discourses of alchemy, sex, and religion in their more overtly sexual poetry. Yet ultimately, this dissertation is about the process of embodiment, and therefore I assert that each poet in this dissertation anchor themselves in the slippery terrain of alchemy in a concerted effort to find meaning among the chaos of the body. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9358

Format

Thesis

Title

Aleshkovsky's Post-Modern Treatment of the Soviet 'New-Man' and Soviet Reality.

Creator

Wittman, Robert John, Efimov, Nina A., Wakamiya, Lisa Ryoko, Romanchuk, Robert, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Program in Interdisciplinary Humanities

Abstract/Description

In Yuz Aleshkovsky's prose, the writer creates the literary image of the Soviet Union's 'new man' and his reflection on Soviet history. Representing the third wave of Russian Literature in immigration, Aleshkovsky published his samizdat works in the West. This thesis includes an in-depth coverage of three Aleshkovsky novels: The Hand and Kangaroo written in the Soviet Union and circulated in the underground, and A Ring in a Case, a work compiled and published in the United States which covers... Show moreIn Yuz Aleshkovsky's prose, the writer creates the literary image of the Soviet Union's 'new man' and his reflection on Soviet history. Representing the third wave of Russian Literature in immigration, Aleshkovsky published his samizdat works in the West. This thesis includes an in-depth coverage of three Aleshkovsky novels: The Hand and Kangaroo written in the Soviet Union and circulated in the underground, and A Ring in a Case, a work compiled and published in the United States which covers the intra-collapse era of the Soviet Regime. The goal of this argument is to explore through the prism of Bakhtin's carnival, Aleshkovsky's literary image of the 'new-man' versus the ordinary man as an alternative to the literary images of socialist realism; and discuss the depictions of history and historical figures as Aleshkovsky's post-modern response to the state-mandated socialist-realist aesthetic. In Aeshkovky's works the main protagonists suffer from the complication of sexual impotence. This artistic method provides Aleshkovsky the necessary framework to present his treatment of the theme of masculinity and how it was affected by the Soviet experiment, contrasting the 'new-man' with who is referred to as either a 'regular' or ordinary man. To depict the Soviet reality in which the 'new-man' lives, Aleshkovsky portrays Soviet history using mennipean satire. This thesis explicates Aleshkovsky's image of Soviet history by applying Mikhail Bakhtin's characteristics of the mennipea. This methodology illuminates how Aleshkovsky renders history as carnival, creating the inverted paradigm in which the grotesque and absurd allow the reader a truer depiction of the Soviet reality than any official history. Aleshkovsky's use of demonic imagery works to contradict the socialism and radicalism of the revolutionaries in his works. Those who created the Soviet state did so in service of the Ideal, Truth, and Purpose. They believed that their ends would justify their means. Portraying those who worked for the good of the people as demonic is the complete reversal of the official Party line, adding to Aleshkovsky's alternative yet parallel world omnipresent in his works. The absurdist depiction of the revolutionaries underscores Aleshkovsky's aversion to fanatical ideology, notably socialism. The man of the new type, being so possessed by the idea of historical necessity is concerned not with his own fate but the fate of the collective, and if the new-man is not concerned with his own fate how could he be with that of another? The men lack any sense of reason; unable to think for themselves, they believe to sit in prison is their duty in the building of socialism. To accomplish his rejection of the effects of communism on society and history within the Soviet Union and then the emerging Russian state, Aleshkovsky employs the literary devices of skaz and constructs a poetic, carnivalesque world in which the absurd and grotesque are more realistic depictions than any official history. Show less

Alexander Pushkin, the father of Modern Russian literature, has influenced every great contemporary Russian writer. His timeless poetry and insightful prose solidify him as a leading voice in Russian culture. During his lifetime, Pushkin dealt with racism and discrimination because his African great-grandfather, Abram Gannibal. In combating negative framing of his identity and his ancestry, Pushkin reveals a defense and reclamation of self seldom seen in contemporaries of his day. In... Show moreAlexander Pushkin, the father of Modern Russian literature, has influenced every great contemporary Russian writer. His timeless poetry and insightful prose solidify him as a leading voice in Russian culture. During his lifetime, Pushkin dealt with racism and discrimination because his African great-grandfather, Abram Gannibal. In combating negative framing of his identity and his ancestry, Pushkin reveals a defense and reclamation of self seldom seen in contemporaries of his day. In asserting ownership over his ancestry, he takes back his narrative and dignity. Through his literary works, Pushkin shows how he navigated his blackness in a world that sought to undermine it. Show less

Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers in both men and women in the United States. The algorithmic detection, characterization, and diagnosis of abnormalities found in chest CT scan images can aid radiologists by providing additional medically-relevant information to consider in their assessment of medical images. Such algorithms, if robustly validated in clinical settings, carry the potential to improve the health of the general population. In this thesis, we first give an... Show moreLung cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers in both men and women in the United States. The algorithmic detection, characterization, and diagnosis of abnormalities found in chest CT scan images can aid radiologists by providing additional medically-relevant information to consider in their assessment of medical images. Such algorithms, if robustly validated in clinical settings, carry the potential to improve the health of the general population. In this thesis, we first give an analysis of publicly available chest CT scan annotation data, in which we determine upper bounds on expected classification accuracy when certain radiological features are used as inputs to statistical learning algorithms for the purpose of inferring the likelihood of a lung nodule as being either malignant or benign. Second, a statistical extension of the level set method for image segmentation is introduced and applied to both synthetically-generated and real three-dimensional image volumes of lung nodules in chest CT scans, obtaining results comparable to the current state-of-the-art on the latter. Show less

This thesis introduces two new algorithms to find hypergeometric solutions of second order regular singular differential operators with rational function or polynomial coefficients. Algorithm 3.2.1 searches for solutions of type: exp(∫ r dx) ⋅ ₂F₁ (a₁,a₂;b₁;f) and Algorithm 5.2.1 searches for solutions of type exp(∫ r dx) (r₀ ⋅ ₂F₁(a₁,a₂;b₁;f) + r₁ ⋅ ₂F´₁ (a₁,a₂;b₁;f)) where f, r, r₀, r₁ ∈ ℚ̅(̅x̅)̅ and a₁,a₂,b₁ ∈ ℚ and denotes the Gauss hypergeometric function. The algorithms use modular... Show moreThis thesis introduces two new algorithms to find hypergeometric solutions of second order regular singular differential operators with rational function or polynomial coefficients. Algorithm 3.2.1 searches for solutions of type: exp(∫ r dx) ⋅ ₂F₁ (a₁,a₂;b₁;f) and Algorithm 5.2.1 searches for solutions of type exp(∫ r dx) (r₀ ⋅ ₂F₁(a₁,a₂;b₁;f) + r₁ ⋅ ₂F´₁ (a₁,a₂;b₁;f)) where f, r, r₀, r₁ ∈ ℚ̅(̅x̅)̅ and a₁,a₂,b₁ ∈ ℚ and denotes the Gauss hypergeometric function. The algorithms use modular reduction, Hensel lifting, rational function reconstruction, and rational number reconstruction to do so. Numerous examples from different branches of science (mostly from combinatorics and physics) showed that the algorithms presented in this thesis are very effective. Presently, Algorithm 5.2.1 is the most general algorithm in the literature to find hypergeometric solutions of such operators. This thesis also introduces a fast algorithm (Algorithm 4.2.3) to find integral bases for arbitrary order regular singular differential operators with rational function or polynomial coefficients. A normalized (Algorithm 4.3.1) integral basis for a differential operator provides us transformations that convert the differential operator to its standard forms (Algorithm 5.1.1) which are easier to solve. Show less

This manuscript is a collection of poems that relies in part on an unavoidable lineage of Southern poetics, while simultaneously asserting a divergence from that poetic and reimagining how reconciliations with that lineage may be reached. Likewise, the personalities and voices within each poem play a contributing role in the flawed specter of place and event. In exchange for their confession and self-implication of deeds, fantasies, and fears, they seek a kind of pride not found in the simple... Show moreThis manuscript is a collection of poems that relies in part on an unavoidable lineage of Southern poetics, while simultaneously asserting a divergence from that poetic and reimagining how reconciliations with that lineage may be reached. Likewise, the personalities and voices within each poem play a contributing role in the flawed specter of place and event. In exchange for their confession and self-implication of deeds, fantasies, and fears, they seek a kind of pride not found in the simple narratives of redemption. Show less

Date Issued

2014

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9218

Format

Thesis

Title

All the Good Numbers.

Creator

Whitworth, Richard Casey, Winegardner, Mark, Stuckey-French, Elizabeth, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English

Abstract/Description

This novel represents the culmination of my work over the last three years at Florida State University, featuring many of the thematic elements I've explored in short fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. ALL THE GOOD NUMBERS is an extended study of familial dysfunction, grief, unrequited (and also unconditional) love, religion, Caribbean myth, the fallibility of memory, the insidiousness of racism and sexism, and the bitterness of familial estrangement.

The hexokinase family of enzymes catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of glucose to generate glucose 6-phosphate and ADP. Consistent with highly evolved catalysts, hexokinases I-III possess high apparent substrate affinities (low Km) as a result of specificity optimization. Hexokinase IV, commonly known as glucokinase (GCK), has a low apparent affinity for its physiological substrate glucose and is not significantly inhibited by the reaction product. Interestingly, it displays... Show moreThe hexokinase family of enzymes catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation of glucose to generate glucose 6-phosphate and ADP. Consistent with highly evolved catalysts, hexokinases I-III possess high apparent substrate affinities (low Km) as a result of specificity optimization. Hexokinase IV, commonly known as glucokinase (GCK), has a low apparent affinity for its physiological substrate glucose and is not significantly inhibited by the reaction product. Interestingly, it displays positively cooperative kinetic behavior while functioning exclusively as a monomer with a single glucose binding site. A lag in steady-state saturation curves places the inflection point in the range of physiological blood glucose levels, allowing activity to be highly tunable in this region. Fasting and fed states can therefore dictate the rate of glucose phosphorylation in the reaction that represents the rate-limiting factor of insulin release and glycogen synthesis. The most compelling evidence for the pivotal role of GCK in glucose homeostasis was the discovery of mutations in the glk gene that result in long-term glycemic complications. Established as a central regulator of blood glucose, efforts to target GCK in the treatment of diabetic disorders resulted in the development of glucokinase activators. Small-molecule activators of GCK bind to an allosteric site and increase the enzyme's apparent affinity for glucose (K0.5). Effects on turnover (kcat) and cooperativity (Hill coefficient) can vary widely, and these differences have remained largely uninvestigated. Conflicting kinetic models have been proposed in the literature that disagree as to whether glucose binding is pre-requisite to activator association. Our kinetic activity assays, obtained via stopped-flow, suggest that activators can indeed associate with some population of GCK in the absence of glucose. To investigate the differing effects on turnover by activators, we performed viscosity variation assays. We found that the kcat of GCK is partly dependent on some diffusion-limited process, such as product release. In the presence of different activators, whose effects on turnover varied from unchanged to augmented 30%, we observed a significant change in dependence for just one of the three compounds tested. Compound A increased kcat by 10% and showed a nearly complete dependence upon solvent viscosity, suggesting that the activator functions by accelerating some preceding event that makes product release the determinant for turnover. The precise in vivo regulation of GCK and the presence of its highly effective allosteric activation site have led some to speculate the existence of an endogenous activator. Such a molecule would likely provide a safe scaffold in the design of future GCK therapeutics. We tested a variety of biogenic compounds using linked-enzyme assays for activating properties. When these tests proved unsuccessful, we developed a methodology that would provide the ability to genetically select for activating cyclic peptides among a library of 106 unique members. We combined a proven genetic selection system devised in-house with a uniquely engineered plasmid construct that generates randomized cyclic peptides in vivo. The methodology was optimized to be sensitive to the presence of GCK activation. In addition, we describe alternative approaches and ongoing efforts on this front. Show less

Chromatin remodelers alter DNA-histone interactions in eukaryotic organisms, and have been well characterized in yeast and Arabidopsis. While there are maize proteins with similar domains as known remodelers, the ability of the maize proteins to alter nucleosome position has not been reported. Mutant alleles of genes encoding several maize proteins (RMR1, CHR101, CHR106, CHR127, CHR156, CHB102, and CHR120) with similar functional domains to known chromatin remodelers were identified. Altered... Show moreChromatin remodelers alter DNA-histone interactions in eukaryotic organisms, and have been well characterized in yeast and Arabidopsis. While there are maize proteins with similar domains as known remodelers, the ability of the maize proteins to alter nucleosome position has not been reported. Mutant alleles of genes encoding several maize proteins (RMR1, CHR101, CHR106, CHR127, CHR156, CHB102, and CHR120) with similar functional domains to known chromatin remodelers were identified. Altered expression of Chr101, Chr106, Chr127, Chr156, Chb102, and Chr120 was demonstrated in plants homozygous for the mutant alleles. These mutant genotypes were subjected to nucleosome position analysis to determine if misregulation of putative maize chromatin proteins would lead to altered DNA-histone interactions. Nucleosome position changes were observed in plants homozygous for chr101, chr106, chr127, chr156, chb102, and chr120 mutant alleles, suggesting that CHR101, CHR106, CHR127, CHR156, CHB102, and CHR120 may affect chromatin structure. The role of RNA polymerases in altering DNA-histone interactions was also tested. Changes in nucleosome position were demonstrated in homozygous mop2-1 individuals. These changes were demonstrated at the b1 tandem repeats and at newly identified loci. While the α-amanitin-inhibited RNA polymerase II demonstrated reduced expression of an RNA polymerase II transcribed gene, no changes in nucleosome position were detected in the α-amanitin-treated plants. Additionally, differential DNA-histone interactions and altered expression of putative chromatin remodelers in different maize haplotypes suggest a role for differentially expressed chromatin proteins in haplotype-specific variation. Show less

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has become one of the most well researched risk factors for the development of psychopathology. Research has found that the AS subfactor of cognitive concerns may play an important role in PTSD, depression, and suicide. AS reduction protocols commonly use interoceptive exposure (IE), or exposure to bodily sensations, to reduce AS. However, current IE paradigms (e.g., CO2 inhalation, straw breathing, hyperventilation) primarily induce physical anxiety symptoms (e.g.,... Show moreAnxiety sensitivity (AS) has become one of the most well researched risk factors for the development of psychopathology. Research has found that the AS subfactor of cognitive concerns may play an important role in PTSD, depression, and suicide. AS reduction protocols commonly use interoceptive exposure (IE), or exposure to bodily sensations, to reduce AS. However, current IE paradigms (e.g., CO2 inhalation, straw breathing, hyperventilation) primarily induce physical anxiety symptoms (e.g., racing heart, dizziness), and thus might not be optimal for the reduction of AS cognitive concerns. Previous work has shown that fear reactivity during the induction of dissociative symptoms is uniquely associated with AS cognitive concerns, and therefore it is possible that repeated exposure to dissociative symptoms will result in habituation and decreased AS cognitive concerns. The current study investigated whether repeated exposure to the induction of dissociative symptoms would reduce AS cognitive concerns, and thus be viable as an IE component of treatments directly targeting AS cognitive concerns. Participants (N = 50) who scored at or above 1 SD above the mean on the ASI-3 cognitive subscale were randomly assigned to repeated exposure to dissociative symptoms through audio-visual stimulation or to a control condition (repeatedly listening to classical music). Results revealed that the classical music control condition resulted in significant decreases in AS cognitive concerns as compared the active dissociation exposure treatment. Unfortunately, these results do not support the viability of this exposure paradigm in the current format as a treatment for elevated AS cognitive concerns. Future directions include increasing the potency of the symptoms induced, increasing the number of exposures, and providing a stronger conceptual framework for the participants prior to undergoing the exposures. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_SUMMER2017_Norr_fsu_0071E_13096

Format

Thesis

Title

The American Revolution Bicentennial in Florida State Authority, Grassroots Organizing, and the Creation of Memory and Patriotic Comemmoration.

The American Revolution Bicentennial in Florida: State Authority, Grassroots Organizing, and the Creation of Memory and Patriotic Commemoration examines the ways in which the national bicentennial was celebrated in Florida. Using a cultural historical approach, this thesis looks at how government officials, politicians, and private citizens constructed patriotic historical narratives during a time of heightened social and political divisiveness. Doing so illuminates the ways in which... Show moreThe American Revolution Bicentennial in Florida: State Authority, Grassroots Organizing, and the Creation of Memory and Patriotic Commemoration examines the ways in which the national bicentennial was celebrated in Florida. Using a cultural historical approach, this thesis looks at how government officials, politicians, and private citizens constructed patriotic historical narratives during a time of heightened social and political divisiveness. Doing so illuminates the ways in which Floridians adapted consensus narratives of history to contemporary political needs. Furthermore, this thesis examines the legacy of the national bicentennial on the practice of patriotic commemoration and remembrance in the United States today. The records of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Florida serve as the chief source of material for this thesis. These records are housed at the State Archives of Florida in Tallahassee, and include institutional records, American Revolution Bicentennial Administration literature, newspaper articles, and tourism brochures. Each of these pieces are vitally important to analyzing the dialectic of commemoration between government officials and the public throughout the 1970s. Show less

Date Issued

2017

Identifier

FSU_2017SP_Belcher_fsu_0071N_13749

Format

Thesis

Title

Analyse der Identität in der Fremdliteratur.

Creator

Meyer, Katja, Soldat-Jaffe, Tatjana, Maier-Katkin, Birgit, Weber, Alina Dana, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics

Abstract/Description

Germany can be considered a country of immigration due to the fact that there have been several waves of immigrants moving to Germany from different countries due to various circumstances. One of the immigrant groups addressed in this thesis is the group of young Turks who were invited to work in the Federal Republic of Germany after 1960. This group is referred to as the pioneer generation of the guest workers. Whereas the second and third-generation of guest workers are known as the... Show moreGermany can be considered a country of immigration due to the fact that there have been several waves of immigrants moving to Germany from different countries due to various circumstances. One of the immigrant groups addressed in this thesis is the group of young Turks who were invited to work in the Federal Republic of Germany after 1960. This group is referred to as the pioneer generation of the guest workers. Whereas the second and third-generation of guest workers are known as the foreigner generation and the resident generation, respectively. Additionally, another group addressed in this thesis is the more recent group of refugees who fled from the civil war in Syria, which started in 2011. In order to investigate the guest workers’ and refugees’ identities within the foreign literature, I will use Anthony Gidden’s identity concept of choice of identity. Moreover, the notion of identity will be further analyzed through both the rhetorical and linguistic choices as well as the topics discussed in the literature. The aim of this thesis is first to analyze the identity of authors that belong to different groups (author identity) of foreign literature (pioneer literature, foreigner literature, resident literature, and refugee literature), and secondly to examine the identity of the foreign literature itself (literature identity). Thus, I will also address the question of what foreign literature (especially refugee literature) means to German literature. In regards to the author identity, the rhetorical and linguistic choices reveal the following: First, the pioneer generation unites the parts of its Turkish and German identity into a personal identity; secondly, the foreigner generation forms its identity by integrating elements from Turkish and German, as well as other languages or dialects (e. g., English, slang, North German dialect); and lastly, the resident generation’s identity is more deeply rooted in the guest culture (Germany) than the identities of the other two groups. In contrast, the refugee’s identity cannot be analyzed based on language because it is not originally written in German but rather translated. Finally, in regard to the literature identity, it is evident that through the distribution of refugee literature, the readership should become more informed about Arabic-speaking countries, as well as more aware of the stereotypes towards Arabic-speaking people that should be reduced. Show less

Integrated kinetic energy (IKE) is a recently developed metric that approximates the destructive potential of a tropical cyclone by assessing the size and strength of its wind field. Despite the potential usefulness of the IKE metric, there are few, if any, operational tools that are specifically designed to forecast IKE in real-time. Therefore, IKE and tropical cyclone structure are analyzed within historical Atlantic tropical cyclones from the past two decades in order to develop an... Show moreIntegrated kinetic energy (IKE) is a recently developed metric that approximates the destructive potential of a tropical cyclone by assessing the size and strength of its wind field. Despite the potential usefulness of the IKE metric, there are few, if any, operational tools that are specifically designed to forecast IKE in real-time. Therefore, IKE and tropical cyclone structure are analyzed within historical Atlantic tropical cyclones from the past two decades in order to develop an understanding of the environmental and internal storm-driven processes that govern IKE variability. This analysis concurs with past research that IKE growth and decay is influenced by both traditional tropical cyclone development mechanisms and by other features such as extratropical transition and trough interactions. Using this framework, a series of statistical prediction tools are created in an effort to project IKE in Atlantic tropical cyclones from a series of relevant normalized input parameters. The resulting IKE prediction schemes are titled the "Statistical Prediction of Integrated Kinetic Energy (SPIKE)". The first version of SPIKE utilizes simple linear regression to project historical IKE quantities in a perfect prognostic mode for all storms between 1990 and 2011. This primitive model acts as a proof of concept, revealing that IKE can be skillfully forecasted relative to persistence out to 72 hours by even the simplest of statistical models if given accurate estimates of various metrics measured throughout the storm and its environment. The proof-of-concept version of SPIKE is improved upon in its second version, SPIKE2, by incorporating a more sophisticated system of adaptive statistical models. A system of artificial neural networks replaces the linear regression model to better capture the nonlinear relationships in the TC-environment system. In a perfect prognostic approach with analyzed input parameters, the neural networks outperform the linear models in nearly every measurable way. The system of neural networks is also more versatile, as it is capable of producing both deterministic and probabilistic tools. Overall, the results from these perfect prognostic exercises suggest that SPIKE2 has a high potential skill level relative to persistence and several other benchmarks. Finally, in an effort to assess its real-time performance, the SPIKE2 forecasting system is run in a mock-operational hindcast mode for the 1990 to 2011 North Atlantic hurricane seasons. Hindcasts of IKE are produced in this manner by running the neural networks with hindcasted input parameters from NOAA's second generation Global Ensemble Forecast System reforecast dataset. Ultimately, the results of the hindcast exercises indicate that the neural network system is capable of skillfully forecasting IKE in an operational setting at a level significantly higher than climatology and persistence. Ultimately, forecasts of IKE from these neural networks could potentially be an asset for operational meteorologists that would complement existing forecast tools in an effort to better assess the damage potential of landfalling tropical cyclones, particularly with regards to storm surge damage. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9376

Format

Thesis

Title

An Analysis of Conjugate Harmonic Components of Monogenic Functions and Lambda Harmonic Functions.

Clifford analysis is seen as the higher dimensional analogue of complex analysis. This includes a rich study of Clifford algebras and, in particular, monogenic functions, or Clifford-valued functions that lie in the kernel of the Cauchy-Riemann operator. In this dissertation, we explore the relationships between the harmonic components of monogenic functions and expand upon the notion of conjugate harmonic functions. We show that properties of the even part of a Clifford-valued function... Show moreClifford analysis is seen as the higher dimensional analogue of complex analysis. This includes a rich study of Clifford algebras and, in particular, monogenic functions, or Clifford-valued functions that lie in the kernel of the Cauchy-Riemann operator. In this dissertation, we explore the relationships between the harmonic components of monogenic functions and expand upon the notion of conjugate harmonic functions. We show that properties of the even part of a Clifford-valued function determine properties of the odd part and vice versa. We also explore the theory of functions lying in the kernel of a generalized Laplace operator, the λ-Laplacian. We explore the properties of these so-called λ-harmonic functions and give the solution to the Dirichlet problem for the λ-harmonic functions on annular domains in Rⁿ. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_2016SP_BallengerFazzone_fsu_0071E_13136

Format

Thesis

Title

Analysis of Functions of Split-Complex, Multicomplex, and Split-Quaternionic Variables and Their Associated Conformal Geometries.

The connections between algebra, geometry, and analysis have led the way for numerous results in many areas of mathematics, especially complex analysis. Considerable effort has been made to develop higher dimensional analogues of the complex numbers, such as Clifford algebras and Multicomplex numbers. These rely heavily on geometric notions, and we explore the analysis which results. This is what is called hyper-complex analysis. This dissertation explores the most prominent of these higher... Show moreThe connections between algebra, geometry, and analysis have led the way for numerous results in many areas of mathematics, especially complex analysis. Considerable effort has been made to develop higher dimensional analogues of the complex numbers, such as Clifford algebras and Multicomplex numbers. These rely heavily on geometric notions, and we explore the analysis which results. This is what is called hyper-complex analysis. This dissertation explores the most prominent of these higher dimensional analogues and highlights a many of the relevant results which have appeared in the last four decades, and introduces new ideas which can be used to further the research of this discipline. Indeed, the objects of interest are Clifford algebras, the algebra of the Multicomplex numbers, and functions which are valued in these algebras and lie in the kernels of linear operators. These lead to prominent results in Clifford analysis and multicomplex analysis which can be viewed as analogues of complex analysis. Additionally, we explain the link between Clifford algebras and conformal geometry. We explore two low dimensional examples, namely the split-complex numbers and split-quaternions, and demonstrate how linear fractional transformations are conformal mappings in these settings. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9326

Format

Thesis

Title

An Analysis of Light Metaphors in Goethe's Faust.

Creator

Childs, Matthew Robert, Weber, Christian, Maier-Katkin, Birgit, Weber, Alina Dana, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern Languages and... Show moreChilds, Matthew Robert, Weber, Christian, Maier-Katkin, Birgit, Weber, Alina Dana, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics Show less

Abstract/Description

This paper examines a series of light metaphors in Goethe's Faust. The purpose is to display a connection between each light metaphor and major developments in Faust's character, namely his development from a restless scholar imprisoned in his study to a blind man shortly before his death. The order in which the light metaphors are introduced is not chronological; rather they follow a thematic sequence from night to day to night. The purpose of this particular progression is to show more... Show moreThis paper examines a series of light metaphors in Goethe's Faust. The purpose is to display a connection between each light metaphor and major developments in Faust's character, namely his development from a restless scholar imprisoned in his study to a blind man shortly before his death. The order in which the light metaphors are introduced is not chronological; rather they follow a thematic sequence from night to day to night. The purpose of this particular progression is to show more clearly Faust's movement from one mindset to the next. The order, moonlight to rising sun to rainbow to setting sun to inner light, reinforces much of what is claimed in this paper's main argument. I assert that a series of light metaphors are connected to Faust as the subjective extensions and expressions of his thoughts about the nature of knowledge and man's place in relation to the Absolute in the wake of series of trials and tribulations. Furthermore, I argue that these light metaphors, when connected thematically as opposed to chronologically, trace the cyclical nature of Faust's, and possibly man's, intellectual enterprise. This thesis combines my own interpretation of the main text with those of other major scholars in the field in order to best argue my points. In the end it will be shown that the various light metaphors are connected to Faust's personal development and display the perennial disposition of human activity as he searches for truth and knowledge in a world of uncertainty. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9569

Format

Thesis

Title

Analysis of Microbial Abundance, Metabolic Potential, and Transcriptional Activity in the Gulf of Mexico "Deadzone" Reveals an Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeal Hotspot.

The northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) is home to one of the largest eutrophication-driven seasonal hypoxic zones in the world. These hypoxic zones are also known as “dead zones” because dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations of ≤ 2 mg L-1 are inhospitable to economically valuable fisheries. However, microorganisms flourish in “dead zones” because of their ability to utilize diverse metabolic pathways and/or by carrying out metabolic function at low oxygen concentrations. Decades worth of... Show moreThe northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) is home to one of the largest eutrophication-driven seasonal hypoxic zones in the world. These hypoxic zones are also known as “dead zones” because dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations of ≤ 2 mg L-1 are inhospitable to economically valuable fisheries. However, microorganisms flourish in “dead zones” because of their ability to utilize diverse metabolic pathways and/or by carrying out metabolic function at low oxygen concentrations. Decades worth of geochemical data has provided fine-scale resolution on nutrient and oxygen dynamics in the nGOM, however little is known about microbial community structure and activity despite the implication that microbial respiration is responsible for forming low DO conditions. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, water column samples collected across the nGOM shelf for two consecutive hypoxic seasons in July 2013 (Y13) and 2014 (Y14) were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene iTag sequencing, quantification of bacterial and thaumarchaeal 16S rRNA genes and archaeal ammonia-monooxygenase (amoA) genes using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays, as well as shotgun metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing of a subset of Y13 samples. In chapter two of this dissertation, analysis of the microbial community16S rRNA gene sequence data (iTag) in Y13 water column samples showed that ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota (100% similar to Nitrosopumilus maritimus) abundances were significantly enriched in hypoxic samples and inversely correlated with DO concentrations. In agreement with the iTag data, subsequent analyses of the absolute abundance (qPCR) of Thaumarchaeota 16S rRNA and amoA gene copy numbers revealed these data to be significantly more abundant in hypoxic samples and inversely correlated with DO concentrations. These results of significantly higher Thaumarchaeota abundances and amoA gene copy numbers in hypoxic samples were confirmed with analyses of Y14 data, as shown in chapter three. For both Y13 and Y14 samples, further analysis of thaumarchaeal microdiversity using oligotyping of iTag sequence data showed single nucleotide variation among Nitrosopumilus 16S rRNA gene sequences. One oligotype was significantly more abundant in hypoxic compared to oxic samples and significantly correlated with low DO, revealing a low DO adapted Nitrosopumilus oligotype in the nGOM. To better understand the ecological significance of the high thaumarchaeal abundances in the hypoxic zone shown in chapters two and three, shotgun metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing was carried out on a subset of samples from Y13. Annotation of unassembled metatranscriptomic reads revealed that functional genes involved in nitrification and ammonia assimilation were some of the most abundant transcripts in both hypoxic and oxic samples, with urease enzymes being significantly more abundant in hypoxic samples. Chapter four described the physiological and metabolic activity of two novel Thaumarchaeota metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) (estimated 79% and 96% complete). The 16S rRNA gene sequence of one MAG had a 98% identity with Nitrosopumilus maritimus SCM1 and was 100% similar to the dominant Thaumarchaeota (OTU4369009) in the Y13 nGOM. Bioinformatic analyses of these MAGs revealed that one contained transcripts coding for urea utilization, consistent with the analysis of unassembled metatranscriptomic sequences. Both MAGs recruited more metatranscriptomic reads derived from hypoxic samples (≤ 2 mg L-1) compared to oxic samples, revealing an active Thaumarchaeota population in the hypoxic zone where archaeal ammonia oxidation may be influenced by local changes in DO concentrations. Collectively, analyses of the datasets in this dissertation that include data from iTag sequencing, qPCR assays, and meta-omics sequencing, found that seasonal hypoxic conditions influenced Thaumarchaeota abundance, activity and diversity, with the annual nGOM “dead zone” emerging as a niche for low DO-adapted, cosmopolitan ammonia-oxidizing archaeal (AOA). Overall, the findings in this dissertation provided significant new insights into the ecology and biogeochemical contributions of marine Archaea, particularly in regards to the nitrogen cycle during a eutrophication-driven hypoxic event. Show less

At the polar latitudes, maritime mesocyclones form throughout the year, often near or embedded within cloud streets associated with massive cold air outbreaks. Such storms appear on the 100–1000 km horizontal scale. However, polar mesocyclones tend to exist on the lesser end of the horizontal scale. As a storm's size decreases, the likelihood that they will be well-represented in data also decreases. Underrepresentation of polar mesocyclones in reanalyses will affect climatological forecasts... Show moreAt the polar latitudes, maritime mesocyclones form throughout the year, often near or embedded within cloud streets associated with massive cold air outbreaks. Such storms appear on the 100–1000 km horizontal scale. However, polar mesocyclones tend to exist on the lesser end of the horizontal scale. As a storm's size decreases, the likelihood that they will be well-represented in data also decreases. Underrepresentation of polar mesocyclones in reanalyses will affect climatological forecasts and research that utilize such data. Namely, the air-sea interactions associated with polar mesocyclones will be undercut, thereby impacting estimates of ocean circulation. Additionally, many reanalyses underestimate near-surface wind speeds, which is linked to but not exclusively dependent upon the problems associated with data resolution. Harsh polar conditions make regions of scientific interest unfavorable for in situ data collection, which compounds the aforementioned issues. This research examines the relatively new Arctic System Reanalysis (ASRv1) and its ability to represent three polar mesocyclonic systems of differing size. Should ASRv1 represent polar mesocyclones effectively, it could be a prime candidate in establishing an arctic atmospheric state for air-sea modeling. The product is compared to high-resolution Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations, with ERA-Interim information providing the initial and boundary conditions. Simulation results are checked against available 10m equivalent neutral wind data from QuikSCAT to ensure that the model is producing reasonable atmospheric conditions. Comparisons are drawn for near-surface wind fields and surface turbulent fluxes to focus on ASRv1's depictions of air-sea interactions for polar mesocyclones. Differences betwixt ASRv1 and the WRF simulations are given with the likely explanations—physical, dynamical, and data-based (e.g., resolution, model options)—behind such differences. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9536

Format

Thesis

Title

Analysis of Prospective Fog Warning Systems Using AWOS/ASOS Station Data Throughout the State of Florida.

Fog and smoke can combine to form dangerous zero visibility conditions along roadways throughout the state of Florida. The ability to forecast when and where fog will occur is problematic. Fog can occur over large and small scales, and is dependent on many meteorological and geographic variables. This study used Automated Weather Observation Stations (AWOS) and Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) throughout the state of Florida to develop a climatology to ascertain what conditions are... Show moreFog and smoke can combine to form dangerous zero visibility conditions along roadways throughout the state of Florida. The ability to forecast when and where fog will occur is problematic. Fog can occur over large and small scales, and is dependent on many meteorological and geographic variables. This study used Automated Weather Observation Stations (AWOS) and Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) throughout the state of Florida to develop a climatology to ascertain what conditions are necessary for radiation fog development. Forecasted dewpoint depression, wind speed, cooling rates, the derived vertical hydrolapse, and other variables were shown to all affect fog formation. Using this information, a fog forecasting model was developed. The model was used to determine a three-hour binary forecast for the early morning hours, every day, at the location of the mesonet stations used. The model would predict fog if meteorological conditions preceding the forecasting time met a series of threshold levels. The goal was to make the model easy to deploy so that law enforcement can make a fast decision of whether to warn the public about potentially dangerous road conditions. The model was compared to other forecasting techniques such as the Model Output Statistics (MOS) fog product and climatology. After comparing the model to reference forecasts, it was found that the model outperformed climatology by a significant margin and was able to detect more fog events than MOS. However, the model had a higher false alarm rate and lower percent forecasts correct compared to MOS . Show less

Date Issued

2014

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9236

Format

Thesis

Title

Analysis of Regularity and Convergence of Discretization Methods for the Stochastic Heat Equation Forced by Space-Time White Noise.

We consider the heat equation forced by a space-time white noise and with periodic boundary conditions in one dimension. The equation is discretized in space using four different methods; spectral collocation, spectral truncation, finite differences, and finite elements. For each of these methods we derive a space-time white noise approximation and a formula for the covariance structure of the solution to the discretized equation. The convergence rates are analyzed for each of the methods as... Show moreWe consider the heat equation forced by a space-time white noise and with periodic boundary conditions in one dimension. The equation is discretized in space using four different methods; spectral collocation, spectral truncation, finite differences, and finite elements. For each of these methods we derive a space-time white noise approximation and a formula for the covariance structure of the solution to the discretized equation. The convergence rates are analyzed for each of the methods as the spatial discretization becomes arbitrarily fine and this is confirmed numerically. Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions are also considered. We then derive covariance structure formulas for the two dimensional stochastic heat equation using each of the different methods. In two dimensions the solution does not have a finite variance and the formulas for the covariance structure using different methods does not agree in the limit. This means we must analyze the convergence in a different way than the one dimensional problem. To understand this difference in the solution as the spatial dimension increases, we find the Sobolev space in which the approximate solution converges to the solution in one and two dimensions. This result is then generalized to n dimensions. This gives a precise statement about the regularity of the solution as the spatial dimension increases. Finally, we consider a generalization of the stochastic heat equation where the forcing term is the spatial derivative of a space-time white noise. For this equation we derive formulas for the covariance structure of the discretized equation using the spectral truncation and finite difference method. Numerical simulation results are presented and some qualitative comparisons between these two methods are made. Show less

Date Issued

2015

Identifier

FSU_migr_etd-9488

Format

Thesis

Title

Analysis of the 10–20-Day Intraseasonal Oscillation in the Indian Ocean Using Surface Winds from Composite Satellite Data.

The 10–20-day mode of surface winds is examined in the Indian Ocean, with special reference to the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the equatorial Indian Ocean during a strong (1994), weak (2002), and normal (1995) Indian summer monsoon. The winds are from the Cross Calibrated Multi-Platform (CCMP) gridded wind product version 2.0. Results indicate the 10–20-day mode of latitudinally averaged surface winds have zonal propagation in the western Indian Ocean (west of 75°E) and the signal... Show moreThe 10–20-day mode of surface winds is examined in the Indian Ocean, with special reference to the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the equatorial Indian Ocean during a strong (1994), weak (2002), and normal (1995) Indian summer monsoon. The winds are from the Cross Calibrated Multi-Platform (CCMP) gridded wind product version 2.0. Results indicate the 10–20-day mode of latitudinally averaged surface winds have zonal propagation in the western Indian Ocean (west of 75°E) and the signal appears stationary in the eastern Indian Ocean (east of 75°E) during May through September. The meridional propagation of the 10–20-day mode of longitudinally averaged surface winds appears weak during summer monsoon periods. The 10–20-day mode of surface winds in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal is more energetic than in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The signal of the 10–20-day mode appears more robust during a strong monsoon than during a weak monsoon in the Arabian Sea; however, no significant difference is found in the Bay of Bengal and equatorial Indian Ocean between strong and weak monsoons. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) analysis is used on a time series from the Arabian Sea to create an index for the 10–20-day mode in surface winds. Using this index, 75 cases of 15-phase 10–20-day events are identified and used to create composites of surface winds. Through these composites, a positive surface wind anomaly is found to appear at 60°E, centered on 15°S, and propagate zonally eastward to 90°E before reflecting back to propagate westward and then disperse off the coast of Madagascar. It is proposed that this oscillating positive wind anomaly is a feature of the southernmost cell of the 10–20-day convective double-cell structure that has extended farther south into the southern Indian Ocean and that this mode connects the Arabian Sea and southern Indian Ocean through the Somali Jet and surface winds. Show less

Date Issued

2018

Identifier

2018_Su_RomanStork_fsu_0071N_14803

Format

Thesis

Title

An Analysis of the Ethnographic Significance of the Iñupiaq Video Game Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna).

In 2014 the Iñupiaq Native American tribe of Alaska published Never Alone, a video game that adapts a traditional folktale into a cooperative puzzle platformer. The game is an assertion of sovereignty for the Iñupiaq people in its role as self-representation in media after centuries of others speaking for them, as an assertion of economic agency beyond their own borders, and as a decolonization of their youth’s education. It has also served to create important hubs for the community, both... Show moreIn 2014 the Iñupiaq Native American tribe of Alaska published Never Alone, a video game that adapts a traditional folktale into a cooperative puzzle platformer. The game is an assertion of sovereignty for the Iñupiaq people in its role as self-representation in media after centuries of others speaking for them, as an assertion of economic agency beyond their own borders, and as a decolonization of their youth’s education. It has also served to create important hubs for the community, both inside and online. The game is an important piece of media within both the culture and indigenous media studies. Show less

Date Issued

2018

Identifier

2018_Sp_Williams_fsu_0071N_14583

Format

Thesis

Title

Analyzing the Evolution of Tornadic Environments in Landfalling Tropical Cyclones.

Creator

Speransky, Stanislav, Ray, Peter S., Hart, Robert Edward, Bourassa, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric... Show moreSperansky, Stanislav, Ray, Peter S., Hart, Robert Edward, Bourassa, Mark A., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science Show less

Abstract/Description

Previous studies have analyzed various atmospheric tornado parameters in a Tropical Cyclone (TC) environment. This study focuses on the evolution of these parameters through a TC landfall. The TCTOR dataset, which assigns all TC tornadoes to their respective TC, is used to group qualifying events from a pool of 1201 tornadoes during the period of 1995-2010 into eight time intervals relative to TC landfall. The environment is then analyzed using seven operationally used tornado parameters. A... Show morePrevious studies have analyzed various atmospheric tornado parameters in a Tropical Cyclone (TC) environment. This study focuses on the evolution of these parameters through a TC landfall. The TCTOR dataset, which assigns all TC tornadoes to their respective TC, is used to group qualifying events from a pool of 1201 tornadoes during the period of 1995-2010 into eight time intervals relative to TC landfall. The environment is then analyzed using seven operationally used tornado parameters. A statistical, spatial, and sounding analysis is performed to determine how the tornadic environment evolves over time after landfall. Analysis shows that statistically significant differences in the mean value of each parameter are found between pre-landfall, post-landfall, and various time interval comparisons. Composite field charts and case studies show that the wind shear parameters at different vertical layers help explain tornado concentrations in space at different time intervals. In addition, a comparison of composite field charts is made between the larger pool of 32 TCs in the ALL composite and the 10 TCs representing the lowest tercile, with respect to the total number of tornadoes produced. This comparison shows higher magnitudes of shear parameters in the ALL composite. Combined with model derived soundings of three prolific tornado producing TCs, this study shows that the increase in shear in the lowest layer (0-1 km) is the best diagnostic tool to explain the increase in tornado occurrences at TC landfall. This finding supports prior research, which showed that low level shear maxima coincided with tornado locations. The increase in shear in the 0-3 km and 0-6 km layers at later time intervals is found to be the best diagnostic tool to explain the secondary increase in tornado occurrences after 24 hours past TC landfall. Additionally, 24 hours after TC landfall appears to be the critical time that separates weaker TC tornadoes at prior time intervals from stronger ones that resemble mid-latitude cyclone tornadoes that occur after, based on parameter values, hodograph analysis, and conceptual models. Lastly, the Significant Tornado Parameter (STP), used with discretion, is shown to work well in diagnosing tornado occurrence in some time intervals but proves to be a poor tool in others. Show less

This collection of personal essays and short fiction investigates a post-9/11 America locked in forever war. Centered upon the American veteran and the veteran family experience, Anchor & Knife showcases wide-ranging narratives that challenge conventional models of war literature by combining fiction and creative nonfiction genres into a single work as well as expanding the aperture of battle-scene focus to a much larger, holistic investigation of individuals searching for peace while... Show moreThis collection of personal essays and short fiction investigates a post-9/11 America locked in forever war. Centered upon the American veteran and the veteran family experience, Anchor & Knife showcases wide-ranging narratives that challenge conventional models of war literature by combining fiction and creative nonfiction genres into a single work as well as expanding the aperture of battle-scene focus to a much larger, holistic investigation of individuals searching for peace while wrestling with their culpability in violence. As important, this collection explores the close proximity of trauma, not only through the lens of war, but also in family, religion, sex, and popular American culture. Show less

Date Issued

2016

Identifier

FSU_2016SP_Goolsby_fsu_0071E_13073

Format

Thesis

Title

And the Hills Burned.

Creator

Umeozor, Obiomachukwu Calvin, Winegardner, Mark, Stuckey-French, Elizabeth, Howard, Ravi, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English

Abstract/Description

Set sometime in 2002, And the Hills Burned tells the story of Chidi, a boy whose father – former Minister of Petroleum in the Nigerian Military administration of the early 90s, and current environmental activist – runs afoul of the military regime that had taken control of the country by the end of the 20th century. The family has no choice but to seek asylum in the States, three years after Chidi’s mother had died in a freak accident. But after six years of a relatively peaceful life in... Show moreSet sometime in 2002, And the Hills Burned tells the story of Chidi, a boy whose father – former Minister of Petroleum in the Nigerian Military administration of the early 90s, and current environmental activist – runs afoul of the military regime that had taken control of the country by the end of the 20th century. The family has no choice but to seek asylum in the States, three years after Chidi’s mother had died in a freak accident. But after six years of a relatively peaceful life in North Florida – and this is where the narrative begins – things start to unravel when Chidi’s aunt comes to spend the summer with them on St George Island. Chidi finds a letter and some documents, all pointing to a jarring truth: that his mother didn’t die that night nine years before, and whatever had become of her has much to do with Marist Academy, a notorious Catholic Missionary boarding school in Eastern Nigeria. Chidi gets to work, setting into motion a series of events that would land him back in Nigeria as an enrolled Marist student spending the holidays with his aunt. It is in Marist that he meets Virginia, and Jonah the only son of the American Ambassador to Nigeria, and everything he thought he once knew about his family and about himself is soon turned on its head. On a thematic level, this narrative explores immigration, and race, and the tyranny of power. Show less

Date Issued

2018

Identifier

2018_Sp_Umeozor_fsu_0071N_14577

Format

Thesis

Title

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the Seventeenth Century: Transmission, Translation, Reception.

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the rise of an intense interest in Anglo-Saxon history and artifacts that accompanied the transcription, translation, and dissemintation of the contents of England's monastic libraries following the Reformation begun in the 1530s. The tide of religious reform turned to more secular, legal concerns under the two early Stuart kings, and the pre-Norman past was used to simultaneously legitimize and criticize early-seventeenth-century monarchy and its... Show moreThe sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the rise of an intense interest in Anglo-Saxon history and artifacts that accompanied the transcription, translation, and dissemintation of the contents of England's monastic libraries following the Reformation begun in the 1530s. The tide of religious reform turned to more secular, legal concerns under the two early Stuart kings, and the pre-Norman past was used to simultaneously legitimize and criticize early-seventeenth-century monarchy and its ancient privileges by free monarchists and constitutionalists, respectively. Much of the modern criticism surrounding the constitutional crises of the reigns of James VI and I and Charles I as it relates to the Anglo-Saxon past focuses on Bede and the Benedictine Reformers of the tenth century. The present study, however, considers an often-cited text typically relegated to the periphery: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Chronicle makes its debut in print under the direction of Abraham Wheelock and the Cambridge University Press in 1643. The annalistic history appears alongside Bede's Historia Ecclesisatica, and, in the 1644 reprint and augmentation, the laws from Ine to Alfred and the later Anglo-Norman kings. Wheelock's editio princeps of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle appears at the height of the First English Civil War in 1643, and it is often treated by modern critics as an appendix to the Old English Historia to which it is attached. This dissertation argues that the Chronicle is not peripheral, and that it participates in a larger royalist campaign to establish the West Saxons as the institutional forbears of the first two Stuart kings. The opening chapters establish Wheelock and his literary circle as participants in the ongoing constitutional debate that culminated in the Personal Rule of Charles in 1629 and the opening years of the Civil Wars a decade later. After the political alleigances of those who surround the production of the 1643 Chronicle have been thoroughly considered, the focus of this study then turns to the text of the Chronicle itself. Wheelock inserts himself into the Chronicle's narrative by means of excision, substitution, and inconsistent translation so that the Chronicle may more easily conform to early modern perceptions of kingship. Specifically, his intervention into and manipulation of the genealogical West Saxon Regnal Table and his interpretation of the advisory body of the Anglo-Saxons known as the witan provide a lens through which to read the medieval Chronicle as a polticial document suitable for seventeenth-century purposes. Lastly, this dissertation traces the influences of the 1643 edition upon the only other Chronicle printed in that century—the 1692 version compiled and edited by Bishop Edmund Gibson. This final chapter argues that Gibson, like Wheelock, uses the Chronicle for political, and in the latter antiquary's case, nationalistic ends. Show less

Date Issued

2017

Identifier

FSU_2017SP_Day_fsu_0071E_13770

Format

Thesis

Title

The Anion-Naphthalenediimide Interaction: from Non-Catenated and Complex Metal-Organic Frameworks to Heterodiptopic Receptors.

Non-covalent molecular interactions are a ubiquitous part of molecular interaction and the driving force behind macromolecules and host-guest binding. However, a more recent non-covalent molecular interaction, the cation-π interaction, has been recognized as another fundamental force behind macromolecules and host-guest binding. Along with this cation-π interaction, anion-π interactions have been demonstrated with an electron deficient aromatic ring and various anions. Naphthalenediimide (NDI... Show moreNon-covalent molecular interactions are a ubiquitous part of molecular interaction and the driving force behind macromolecules and host-guest binding. However, a more recent non-covalent molecular interaction, the cation-π interaction, has been recognized as another fundamental force behind macromolecules and host-guest binding. Along with this cation-π interaction, anion-π interactions have been demonstrated with an electron deficient aromatic ring and various anions. Naphthalenediimide (NDI) represent a unique class of molecules that exhibit electron deficient aromatic rings suitable for anion-π interactions. Although the anion-pi interaction has been available for some time, there has been little known about the mechanism by which this interaction occurs. Recently published anion-pi interactions, through the anion-naphthalenediimide interactions, have given insight to the mechanism by which the phenomena occurs. With this recent insight, this research attempts to apply this knowledge to two areas of chemistry, metal-organic frameworks and ion-pair recognition chemistry. A metal-organic framework (MOF) is a material defined by its crystallinity and is composed of a metal ion, or metal clusters, connected to a rigid organic molecule, known as the organic linker or ligand. MOFs have gathered significant attention in the recent decade due to their unique properties such as extremely high surface area, ultra-low density, and others. One of the primary uses for MOFs is for gas storage and capture. Despite the many advancements of MOFs, their synthesis still poses challenges. One such challenge is catenation (interpenetration), which is the formation of subunits of MOFs within themselves. This catenation reduces the available space within a MOF. Several ways to prevent catenation have been demonstrated by using bulky ligands or templating agents. Inspired by this work, this research demonstrates how the anion-π, using perchlorate anion and NDI, can be used to direct the assembly of a two dimensional MOF without catenation. In addition, coordination complexes are prepared and give additional insight to the effects of solvents on coordination of ligands to metal. At the same time, more insight is gained from these coordination complexes and the interaction between the complex and anion. After displaying how the anion-NDI interaction can be applied to prevent the catenation of MOFs, this research investigates complex NDI ligands for the assembly of complex MOFs. MOFs have expanded into many other areas of chemistry and are no longer thought about for simple gas storage. Drug delivery, catalyst, sensors, and many other areas of chemistry are beginning to utilize MOFs. However, if these areas are to successfully apply MOFs, a simple MOF with little or no complex functionality will not work. Therefore, MOFs displaying complex functionality are needed. With complex MOFs in mind, this research set out to build MOFs displaying complex functionality, for sensing, redox potential, and other applications yet to be discovered. To impart complex functionality upon a MOF, one can use a complex ligand, metal ion, or insert materials into the MOFs. Here, research focus is on the synthesis of complex NDI ligands, by adding functionality to the core of the NDI, which then imparts complex functionality on the MOF or can help with retention of ions so that the MOF can possess functionality, such as a redox potential. This part of the research began with the synthesis bromine core-substitution of NDIs that allow for post-synthetic modification (PSM) of bromo-core-substituted MOFs with a variety of nucleophiles, thereby allowing access to a large variety of complex NDI based MOFs. This work is followed by the synthesis of the complex NDI ligand by functionalizing the core of the NDI with ethoxy functionality. Although the NDI is identified as viable candidate for the assembly of complex MOFs, another building block, tetrathiafulvalene (TTF), is also identified. TTF is a unique molecule with exceptional redox ability and is often employed as a building block in many supramolecular systems. In the attempt to address complex MOFs, the synthesis of ligands containing the TTF core is demonstrated and future work will allow for assembly of TTF ligand containing MOFs. Lastly, this research shifts direction back to the anion-NDI interaction in an attempt to apply the interaction to the area of chemistry known as ion-pair recognition. Due to the ubiquitous nature of ionic species in chemistry, biochemistry processes, and in the environment, capturing these ions has gained much attention from the chemistry community. Traditional means of capturing these ionic species involves capturing either the cation or the anion. However, a more recent strategy has been to capture both ionic species at once, using a heteroditopic receptor. The traditional heteroditopic receptor relies on well-known non-covalent interactions for capture. This research attempts to introduce the anion-π interaction, using naphthalenediimide, for the cooperative binding of both ionic species, in which the anion is captured through the anion-π interaction. In addition to cooperative binding using the anion-π interaction, recycling of the receptor is another aspect of this research, which is often an aspect ignored by the field due to the high energy barrier required to overcome. Currently, this research presents successful synthesis of heteroditopic receptors with indication of cooperative binding of both ionic species using the anion-π interaction. Future studies of these receptors will be done to determine their releasability. Show less